Keynote Speakers
All of us at the Association of Occupational Therapists Ireland are thrilled to announce our keynote speakers for the 2026 conference!
This year’s keynote programme brings together outstanding voices from across occupational therapy and advocacy - sharing new ideas, evidence, and real-world experiences that will help shape the future of practice, education, and research.
We can’t wait to welcome these speakers and the broader occupational therapy community to the 2026 conference for meaningful discussion, inspiration, and connection. Stay tuned for the full programme details.
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YOUR AOTI 2026 KEYNOTE SPEAKER IS... Professor Katie Robinson!
Professor Katie Robinson is Discipline Lead for Occupational Therapy and Co-Director of the Ageing Research Centre at the University of Limerick. Her research improves outcomes for service users through integrated care, rehabilitation, patient-centred interventions, and methodological studies. She collaborates widely with clinical, academic, policy, and patient involvement partners, and has authored 100+ peer-reviewed publications. She has completed supervision of 13 PhD students and currently supervises eight doctoral/professional doctorate students.
With 22 years at UL, Professor Robinson has taught 700+ occupational therapy students and helped develop a new BSc in Occupational Therapy (launched in 2024). She has served on the CORU Occupational Therapists Registration Board and the CORU Council, and is committed to advancing occupational therapy education, research, and practice.
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YOUR AOTI 2026 LIVED EXPERIENCE SPEAKER IS... Mr Ethan Lloyd!
Ethan Lloyd is a 24-year-old Sales Development Representative at Salesforce and a national youth advocate for ADHD Ireland, where he leads webinars for secondary school and college students navigating life with ADHD.
Diagnosed with ADHD Combined Type and Social Anxiety at 16 and living with dyspraxia since birth, Ethan spent years researching and understanding his own neurodivergence, channelling it into a 2.1 degree, and a top performing career in sales, most recently becoming a top performer at Salesforce following a record breaking internship at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
His focus is on helping young people with ADHD better understand themselves, not just managing the challenges, but recognising and harnessing the strengths that come with it.
He speaks from lived experience, not theory.
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We hope you are excited as we are to welcome Katie and Ethan to AOTI 2026!
