Julia Lam

Biography

Julia Lam specializes in community-based occupational therapy (OT) for people experiencing homelessness. As clinical services assistant director, she supports the interprofessional education and academic projects of Street Medicine at Pitt to promote the field of collaborative and equitable homeless health care.

Outside of Pitt, Lam is the founder of Outreach Therapy, the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit dedicated to providing occupational therapy to people experiencing homelessness. Outreach Therapy delivers rehabilitation services in pursuit of equity in disability care spanning street, shelter and housing settings, and supports skill development for successful transitions out of homelessness. Her interests include harm reduction and functional cognition assessment and treatment in community-based settings. In her Outreach Therapy role, she also serves as a community partner in Natalie Leland’s Rehabilitation Health Services Lab for health services research pertaining to homelessness, where she previously worked as a graduate research assistant.