Muriel Driver Memorial Lecturer- Marcia Finlayson

Friday, May 31st, 15:30 Victoria Convention Centre Theatre

Marcia Finlayson’s professional interests include research, education and practice.

Following the completion of her MSc and PhD at the University of Manitoba in community health sciences, Dr. Finlayson was appointed in 1998 as an Assistant Professor in the Occupational Therapy Program at the College of Allied Health at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. She joined the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2000, where she received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005 and to Professor in 2010. Dr. Finlayson also holds adjunct appointments in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba and in the School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia.

As an occupational therapist since 1987, Dr. Finlayson’s clinical experience has included inpatient care, outpatient rehabilitation, and work in community-based settings. She has been recognized as a Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Specialist since 2004. As a researcher and scholar, Dr. Finlayson has a highly esteemed body of work that focuses on understanding the experiences and challenges of living with multiple sclerosis.  She has published 80 peer-reviewed articles, 12 book chapters, and delivered over 100 conference presentations at national and international meetings. She recently completed work on an edited text focused on multiple sclerosis rehabilitation. Since 2000, she has received over $2.3 million dollars in research funding.

A highly regarded and productive educator, Dr. Finlayson has mentored postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, and master’s thesis students. She has delivered graduate courses and participated in or chaired a wide variety of academic committees.

She was inducted into the American Occupational Therapy Foundation’s Academy of Research in 2004; she received teaching excellence awards from Nova Southeastern University in 2000, the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2003, and College of Applied Sciences in 2007; numerous “best paper” awards, including the Labe Scheinberg Award for her presentation on a clinical trial of an energy conservation course for persons with multiple sclerosis at the International Consortium of Multi Sclerosis Centres Annual Meeting, 2004; and public service awards such as the Dr William Fitzsimmons Public Health Award by the Village of Oak Park in 2005.  

Dr. Finlayson served as Editor of the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy from 2006 to 2011 and is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Centre on Aging and Supportive Environments at Lund University in Sweden. In 2007, the Greater Illinois Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society named Dr. Finlayson “Volunteer of the Year” and in 2009, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.  Dr. Finlayson was the recipient of a 2011 Award of Merit from the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.

Dr. Marcia Finlayson was appointed Vice-Dean (Health Sciences) and Director of the School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen’s University in  September 2012.

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