Rate My Professor Sajay Arthanat

Dr. Sajay Arthanat, PhD, OTR/L, ATP, is a Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of New Hampshire's College of Health and Human Services. He earned a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from Dr. M.G.R. Medical University in India in 1997, an Advanced Certificate in Assistive Technology in 2004, and a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science in 2007 from the University at Buffalo. Arthanat began his career as an Occupational Therapist at Raksha Institute for Children with Multiple Handicaps and St. Johns’ Medical College and Hospital in India from 1998 to 2001. He then served in various graduate research, teaching assistant, and instructor roles at the University at Buffalo's Department of Rehabilitation Science until 2007. Joining the University of New Hampshire in 2007 as Assistant Professor, he progressed to Associate Professor in 2013 and Professor in 2020. He acted as Interim Chair of the Occupational Therapy Department from 2020 to 2021 and as Graduate Coordinator and Program Director for the online Assistive Technology Graduate Certificate from 2021 to 2023.

Arthanat's research focuses on user-centered design and implementation of innovative technologies such as wearables, robotics, virtual reality, and smart home automation to address physical dysfunctions, promote health, community living, and aging-in-place. His efforts have attracted over $5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, including as Principal Investigator for the NIH-NIA grant on smart home-based social assistive robots for Alzheimer's disease care (2022-2027) and NSF-supported robot-assisted aging-in-place projects. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including "Perspectives on a telepresence robot at an independent living facility: lessons learned and implications" (Journal of Enabling Technologies, 2024), "Multilevel factors influencing eHealth adoption among older adults during the pandemic" (Frontiers in Public Health, 2025), "Who over 65 is online? Older adults' dispositions toward information communication technology" (Computers in Human Behavior, 2015), and "Conceptualization and measurement of assistive technology usability" (Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 2007). Arthanat has received the 2025 Excellence in Rehabilitation of Aging Persons Award from the Gerontological Society of America, the Roger A. Ritvo Faculty Mentor Award (2016), and the Outstanding New Investigator Research Award (2010). He teaches assistive technology and research methodology courses, oversees Doctoral Capstone projects, and has served in leadership roles with the American Occupational Therapy Foundation and RESNA.