Professor, Endowed Chair
University of Illinois-Chicago
I am a Professor and Endowed Chair in the Departments of Occupational Therapy and Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and identify as a career scientist, an occupational therapist, and a person with a disability/member of the disability community. My scholarship focuses on community-based participatory research (CBPR) related to community living and participation, and participation disparities experienced by people with disabilities. This includes research to 1) identify key social determinants of health (SDoH) environmental barriers and supports to community living and societal participation, 2) document the lived experiences of diverse disabled people and communities, and conduct community-engaged, participatory action research with these communities that can affect systems and policy action changes, 3) create and validate consumer-directed, patient-reported outcome measures and accessible methodologies to evaluate participation outcomes and disparities at the person, community and social/policy levels and translate these findings to policy and systems changes, 4) design and test innovative community living, participation and environmental interventions and evaluate their impact on everyday community participation and quality of life. I have served as PI/Co-PI on several NIDILRR, NSF, RSA, and NIA sponsored grants, and have published and presented extensively on community living, participation, and health of people aging with disabilities. I am one of the codevelopers of community living and participation self management interventions for people with stroke and long term disabilities which was evaluated in several multisite clinical trials, and am a Co-PI of the Americans with Disabilities Act Participation Action Research Consortium (ADA PARC) center grant which examines participation disparities and innovative interventions to promote participation at national, state and city levels.
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