Dr. Pizzi is an occupational therapist, entrepreneur, scholar, researcher and musical theater performer. He was awarded the Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Occupational Therapy and was one of the youngest therapists to have the honor of becoming a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (FAOTA), given to those who demonstrate scholarship, leadership and service to the profession. He was guest editor of the Special Issue on Childhood Obesity and the Special Issue on Health, Well-Being and Quality of Life for the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.

Dr. Pizzi helped create one of the first clinical doctoral programs in NY and was Doctoral Capstone Coordinator at New York Institute of Technology, NYC.

He developed the first childhood obesity occupation and client-centered assessment which has been utilized nationally. He also developed the Pizzi Health and Wellness Assessment (PHWA) and the Pizzi Healthy Weight Management Assessment (PHWMA) which have been utilized in several research studies and was presented at AOTA 2014-18. Besides writing and research, in 2014, Dr. Pizzi was selected for the Executive Board of the Leaders and Legacies Society (LLS) Steering Committee. He has published over 80 peer reviewed journal articles and chapters in textbooks on topics including HIV rehabilitation, hospice, entrepreneurship, childhood obesity and

health, well-being and quality of life and was a forerunner in these areas. There are over 100 lectures, workshops and keynote addresses focusing on advancing occupational therapy practice in the area of health and well-being to his credit. Dr. Pizzi co-edited the OT textbook “Occupational Therapy in the Promotion of Health and Wellness” which is used internationally and is co-editor of “Interprofessional Perspectives for Community Practice: Promoting Health, Well-Being and Quality of Life” and “Preparing your Doctoral Capstone” textbook, both published in 2025. He is the Editor of the 7thedition of Bonder’s Psychopathology and Function now titled “Psychopathology, Function and Occupation: A Guide to Assessment and Intervention in Mental Health” to be published in 2026.

He has served on many editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals, including the AJOT, where he was an Associate Editor.

Dr. Pizzi is also the founder of The Wellsongs Project, which has composers write original compositions from an OT interview with a child with special needs and their families. The CD of the first 14 of these songs can be found at www.wellsongsproject.com. Other projects include creating musical concerts and donates proceeds to local charities, particularly food banks (see the tab under Michael Pizzi/Performer.