Beth Pfeiffer, PhD, OTR/L, BCP, FAOTA – REACH Collective DIRECTOR
Beth earned a BA in psychology and special education from Arcadia University, an MS in occupational therapy with a specialization in pediatrics from Temple University, and a PhD in occupational therapy from Nova Southeastern University.
She is an associate professor in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences teaching courses in the doctorate of occupational therapy and mentoring research in the entry-level and post-professional occupational therapy programs.
Dr. Pfeiffer’s research focuses on treatment and measurement of person environmental interactions in individuals across the lifespan with autism spectrum and mental health disorders.
Dr. Pfeiffer maintains her clinical practice in the area of pediatrics.
Amber Davidson, MPH is the REACH Collective Coordinator. Amber earned her BS in Chemistry with a BioSci option at the University of Pittsburgh, and her MPH at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Amber’s research focuses on individual’s community participation. She is currently the research coordinator on a peer mediated transportation training intervention to increase community participation for transitional aged you and young adults.
Prior to her work at Temple University Amber has worked in research with investigators at several other institutions: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Drexel University, Villanova University and others. Her experiences include contributing on grant funded projects of various sizes from recruitment through publications.
Amber’s enjoys spending her free time with her husband, three children Samuel; (13), Luke (10), and Mary (7), friends and pets. Her family and friends enjoys many types of adventures including running, hiking, skiing, swimming and traveling. She is a huge Philadelphia sports fan and can also be found watching sporting events in her downtime.
Luke Tomczuk is the REACH Collective Peer Interventionist. He graduated from the College of Liberal Arts with a bachelor of arts in history in 2019 and his Masters in public policy in 2023. During his undergraduate career, he participated in Temple Student Government as the first Disability Resources and Services representative. He previously has worked at Student Center Operations on campus as an Information Desk Attendant and Community Behavioral Health as a Community Autism Peer Specialist (CAPS). Luke was recently appointed by Mayor Jim Kenney to be a commissioner on the Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities.
Currently, Luke performs travel training interventions with young autistic adults at Community Integrated Services. He has been with the research team for over four years. Luke proudly identifies as an autistic young alumnus. The best part about his job is watching the progression of the people he works with, from their first session to travel independence. When he is not working, he likes to spend time with friends and family and watch all sports on TV.
Alex Rotaru, MPH, CQIA is a Research Associate for the REACH Collective at Temple University. He earned a BA in Chemistry with a minor in Gender Studies from Wabash College, and an MPH on the Social and Behavioral Sciences track from Temple University. He also received an online Professional Certificate in Agile Project Management from the University of Maryland’s A. J. Clark School of Engineering and successfully passed the Quality Improvement Associate exam. He is primarily responsible for data collection and management, quality assurance, survey construction, tech support, social media, and developing messaging for the REACH Collective curricula through community engagement.
Prior to joining the REACH Collective, Alex spent 3 years working with the Risk Communication Laboratory, also at Temple University, where he tackled community-based health communication research, to build community solidarity, provide access to resources, and combat common myths and misconceptions about all sorts of conditions, from genetic testing that is part of cancer care to vaccines and HIV.
Outside the office, Alex enjoys playing chess, hiking, traveling, reading (mostly philosophy), spending time with friends, and doing creative writing.
Laura Slugg, BS is a Research Coordinator for the REACH Collective at Temple University. Laura is primarily responsible for participant recruitment, study protocol implementation and data management for the lab’s research studies in progress.
Prior to this, Laura has worked as a Therapeutic Support Specialist (TSS) for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at Indian Creek Foundation in Souderton, PA; as an Emergency Children’s Shelter Worker for Child, Inc. in Wilmington, DE; and as a Child Care Specialist for the Child Care Information Services of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Laura earned her Bachelors of Science at the University of Delaware.