About Me

Devra’s first encounter with chronic pain was her mother. During her childhood she watched as her mom would wax and wane through cycles of pain. As an occupational therapist, her mom set an example of successful self-efficacy. During her freshman year of college a knee injury led her mom to two surgeries that she didn’t really recover from. By senior year this culminated in a diagnosis of CRPS (RSD was the term at the time.)

While engaging in a neurologic focused career as a physical therapist, including neurologic board certification, Devra was also helping her mom with her CRPS. Chronic pain is not an accessible topic to find mentorship in. Significant self-study and following the work of researchers occupied much of her time. Devra’s approach was very different than her clinical colleagues. Overtime, coworkers sought her out for guidance with challenging patient cases.

Devra’s clinical experience has instilled a deep understanding of US health systems. This includes health inequity, healthcare accessibility, insurance processes, billing/reimbursement, case management, Medicaid/Medicare, data contextualization, and documentation.

Related to Devra’s focus on health inaccessibility, she views tech as a significant opportunity to bring better care to individuals who need it, reduce burden of access, and minimize time from research to clinical practice. Thus leading to less redundant, more efficacious care.

Her work in this arena has been broad including product development, virtual reality, neuromodulation, applications, gaming, and utilization and engagement. Her career as a physical therapist serving people who have chronic pain, special populations, and neurological fields, gives her a more expansive view of UX that goes beyond the “doing.”