Cynthia Cooper

Cynthia Cooper received a bachelor of fine arts from Kent State University in 1974, a master of fine arts from the University of Cincinnati in 1976, and a master’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Southern California in 1981. She was a certified hand therapist (CHT) from the inaugural examination in 1991 until 2024, when her status changed to retired occupational therapist and CHT retired. Cynthia was adjunct faculty in occupational therapy at A.T. Still University from 2010 to 2016. She held academic rank as assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Mayo Medical School from 1998 to 2004 and was honorary faculty at the University of Southern California Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science from 1993 to 1996.

Cynthia has published chapters in hand therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy textbooks and journals. She was the editor of the first two editions of Fundamentals of Hand Therapy: Clinical Reasoning and Treatment Guidelines for Common Diagnoses of the Upper Extremity, which has been renamed in subsequent editions to Cooper’s Fundamentals of Hand Therapy: Clinical Reasoning and Treatment Guidelines for Common Diagnoses of the Upper Extremity. She has written a chapter on CIPN for this textbook since its second edition.

Cynthia has presented numerous times at international, national, and state meetings. She was the invited guest speaker at the Hong Kong Society of Hand Therapy in 2015. She has won the ASHT Best Scientific Paper Award, the ASHT Best Poster Award, and the AOTA Service Award. She has received the ASHT Paul Brand Award for Humanitarianism and Volunteer Services and the ArizOTA Dennis Krenek Volunteer Service Award. She was endowed by AAHS for a hand therapy volunteer trip to Ghana in 2017 and by ASSH for a Touching Hands Project volunteer trip to La Paz, Bolivia, in 2015.

Cynthia became interested in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in 2010. She developed a treatment program for CIPN based on observation and interactions with numerous adults being treated for cancer. She has written and presented on this topic internationally and nationally. In 2020, she developed a training program on CIPN rehabilitation for the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre in the country of Malta. She currently provides education, writes, consults, and volunteers.