Bruce Ankenman received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and an MS and PhD. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to his graduate work, he worked for five years as a design engineer for an automotive supplier in Ohio. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Industrial Engineering Department at the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University. His research interests include the statistical design and analysis of experiments.

Although much of his work has been concerned with physical experiments, recent research has focused on computer simulation experiments. Professor Ankenman is currently the director of the Masters of Engineering Management Program, the director of the Manufacturing and Design Engineering Program. He co-directs the freshman engineering and design course (EDC), and is the director of undergraduate programs for the Segal Design Institute.

Email:ankenman@northwestern.edu

Phone: 847-491-5674

Peter Axelson, M.S.M.E., is Founder and Director of Research and Development of Beneficial Designs, Inc., a rehabilitation engineering design firm. He has over 30 years of personal experience as a wheelchair user and has extensive experience designing recreation equipment for people with disabilities, such as water and snow skis and training devices, a two-wheeled handcycle, a canoe seat, a rowing ergometer for use from a wheelchair, a mono ski fitness trainer and many other modifications to existing exercise equipment. In addition, he has led Beneficial Designs in the development of many universal design guidelines for recreation environments and facilities including amusement park rides, Arial tramway lifts, ski area facilities, outdoor recreation environments, information systems, trails and shared use paths.

Email: mail@beneficialdesigns.com

Phone: 775-783-8822

P. Pat Banerjee, Ph.D., is Professor of Mechanical, Industrial, Bioengineering and Computer Science at UIC. His current research interests include virtual reality and haptics-based simulations; local and telecollaborative virtual reality-based application models; avatar representations; immersive learning effectiveness and display interfaces; and linear and non-linear computational optimization models. In addition to over 100 publications in his area of research expertise, he has served as a department editor of IIE Transactions, as an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation and as a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Image and Graphics.

Email: banerjee@uic.edu

Phone: 312-996-5599

Dr. Braunschweig is a is a Professor in the Department of Disability and Human Development of the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

She earned her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan.  Her research interests focus on how nutritional status, diet and body composition impact outcomes in two major areas; (1) the impact of obesity and body composition on disease risks in various populations including the disabled, women and minority populations and (2) the influence of non-volitional nutritional support (parenteral and enteral feedings) on clinical outcomes in critically ill hospitalized patients. 

Email: braunsch@uic.edu

Phone: 312-996-2575

Barry Burman was raised in Chicago, IL. He graduated from Columbia College Chicago in Spring 2008 where he earned a Bachelors degree in film and video. He is currently working at NCPAD as a videographer and video editor.

Email: barrybu@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-1106

Jenny Carlton, M.Ed., is from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. In December 2008, she graduated from Kent State University with a Masters of Education in Rehabilitation Counseling. She also attended Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio where she received her bachelor’s degree (majored in psychology & minored in business). In August 2008, Jenny started as a graduate intern for the Center on Health Promotion Research for People with Disabilities. In December 2008, she began her current position as an Information Specialist for the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD).

Email:jcarlto1@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-4453

Carla Cox is a Program Specialist for the Disability and Health Program at the Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control.

Email:carla.cox@illinois.gov

Phone: 217-782-3300

Brienne Davis Lowry, MPH, is from Port Huron, MI. Brienne joined the CHP in November of 2006 and is the Project Coordinator of the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP), which aims to reduce obesity and obesity-related secondary conditions in adolescents with disabilities. She received a Bachelors degree from the University of Michigan, where she studied psychology and movement science, and completed her Master of Public Health degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago, specializing in behavioral science and health promotion. Prior to moving to Chicago, Brienne contributed support to various research projects in the Cancer Control Program of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Email: bdavis7@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-4054

Dan Ding, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology (RST) at the University of Pittsburgh, and a research scientist at Human Engineering Research Labrotories (HERL). Her research interests are in the areas of rehabilitation engineering, specifically on monitoring and modeling of wheeled mobility devices, telerehabilitation and rehabilitation robotics.

Dr. Ding holds a Ph.D. degree in mechanical and automation engineering from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and received her postdoctoral training in rehabilitation engineering at the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at Pitt. Dr. Ding was the recipient of a NIDRR Switzer Fellowship and the PVA (Paralyzed Veterans of America) Research Fellowship for her work on developing a remote wheelchair logging-analysis-safety system capable of recording wheelchair usage, analyzing contexts, and communicating with the host station upon emergency. Dr. Ding is the PI of the R2 study, Utility of Common Activity Monitoring Devices in Measuring Energy Expenditure in Manual Wheelchair Users with SCI.

Email: dad5@pitt.edu

Phone: 412-365-4885

Robert Dolezal graduated from University of Chicago in 2001 with a B.A. in Religion and the Humanities; in 2011, he earned an M.A. Degree in the field of Sports Administration from Northwestern University. Robert is a disability research specialist at the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) and works as a fund and budget manager in the office.  Other duties include maintaining financial record keeping and as a support person for all project work throughout the department.

Email: rsdoleza@uic.edu

Phone:312-355-1904

Yochai Eisenberg, MUPP, is the Project Coordinator at the Department of Disability and Human Development at UIC for the project entitled “Building Health Empowerment Zones for People with Disabilities: Obesity and the Built Environment”.

He received his Masters of Urban Planning and Policy degree from UIC and received his B.A in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mr. Eisenberg has worked in various capacities in the private, public and non-profit sectors doing urban planning and design. 

Email: yeisen2@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-9410

Pam Ferris received her B.S. as a Health and Fitness Specialist from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC in 2006. She played volleyball for ECU from 2002-2005 and was voted First Team All Conference USA in 2005. She has been working in the field of health and fitness for 3 years as a personal trainer and currently as a Fitness/Program Specialist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Pam joined the RIC and NCPAD team in December of 2008 and contributes to the NCPAD team as an information specialist and helps with the production of home exercise videos specifically designed for people with physical disabilities.

Email: pferris@ric.org

Phone: 312-238-5001

Dora Fisher, BA, is from both New York City and Boston, and is a graduate assistant at the National Center for Physical Activity and Disability. She received a BA in Political Science and Sociology from Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Before moving to Chicago in 2007, Dora worked in policy and advocacy for older adults and for housing rights.  Upon moving to Chicago, she coordinated health promotion programming at a senior wellness center for 3 years, which motivated her to pursue a Master of Public Health degree.

Dora’s interests are in chronic disease prevention and management for all people, particularly communities most likely to be left out of the discussion such as older adults, people with disabilities, and immigrant groups.

Email:dfishe7@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-4544

Dr. Gerber is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the section of General Internal Medicine at UIC. Dr. Gerber coordinates the clinical aspects of the proposed research, including recruitment and enrollment methods, physician training, and data mining of the electronic medical record for abstraction of relevant clinical indicators. In addition, during year 3 Dr. Gerber will participate in data analysis and interpretation, cost-effectiveness evaluation, as well as manuscript publications and presentations. He will also supervise data collection, entry, and management methods to ensure privacy and confidentiality are maintained.

Email: bgerber@uic.edu

Phone: 312-996-8872

Jenny Green is from Portage, MI. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Fitness in Preventative and Rehabilitative Programs from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, and a Master of Science Degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. She began working at the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) in the Department of Disability and Human Development at UIC as an intern in August 2009 and now as a Visiting Information Specialist.

Email: green1jn@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-9384

Kueifang (Kelly) Hsieh, PhD. is a Research Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Evaluation and Statistics for the RRTC on Lifespan Health and Function. Dr. Hsieh has provided statistical consulting for the RRTC on Aging with Developmental Disabilities over 7 years. Dr. Hsieh has a PhD in Public Health with emphasis in Community Health and Epidemiology. She is co-PI on a longitudinal study R2a Prospective Cohort Study Examining the Effects of Modifiable Health Behaviors on Health and Function in Adults with ID with Dr. Rimmer examining the health behaviors of adults with Intellectual Disability (ID) and PI on R2b project A Randomized Controlled Trial to Reduce Risk of Falls in Adults with ID.

Email: hsieh@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-1530

Tamika Jones, M.Ed., CAPE, received her Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI and Master of Education in Kinesiology in Adapted Physical Education from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. She is a certified Adapted Physical Educator with the Adapted Physical Education National Standards. Tamika began working at the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability as a Visiting Information Specialist in October 2011.  

Email: tamikarj@uic.edu

Phone: 312-996-5965

I-Min Lee is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Professor ofEpidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, as well as an Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Lee's main research interest is in the role of physical activity in promoting health and preventing chronic disease. This extends to characteristics associated with a physically active way of life, such as the maintenance of ideal body weight. She also is concerned with issues relating to women's health.

At present, she is a consultant for RRTC: LHIDs R2A at the University of Illinois.

Email: ilee@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

Phone: 617-278-0806

Qian Li, M.S., is from Hubei, China. She completed her B.S. in Biology from Wuhan University in China, and her M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from University of New Mexico. She is working as a Graduate Assistant at the Center on Health Promotion Research for Persons with Disabilities. Her primary duties involve assisting in data management and data analysis across projects. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Biostatistics.

Email: qli29@uic.edu

Carolyn Lullo, MS, PhD Candidate, is currently a Graduate Assistant at the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) and a Doctoral Candidate in the Disability Studies Program within the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  She completed her B.S. from Miami University in Oxford, OH in Exercise Science and her M.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Kinesiology. She then spent two years as an Assistant Director of Fitness at Miami University's Recreational Sports Center.  She is particularly interested in (1) factors that influence the health and health behaviors of individuals with disabilities, from the intrapersonal to the policy levels and (2) effective and innovative ways of promoting healthy behaviors in this population.  For her dissertation research, Carolyn is exploring the use and effectiveness of a web-based physical activity promotion program for people with disabilities (NCPAD’s 14-Week Program to a Healthier You!).  She intends to use her findings to expand the field’s understanding of effective and innovative means of increasing physical activity for people with disabilities.

Email: clullo2@uic.edu

Phone: 312-996-5486

Jessica M. Madrigal, MS, is a Disability and Health Promotion Research Specialist at the Center on Health Promotion Research for Persons with Disabilities. Her primary duties include coordinating the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP), which aims to reduce obesity and obesity-related secondary conditions in adolescents with disabilities. Jessica is responsible for assisting the Director in implementing a coordinated set of research projects that includes obesity surveillance and secondary data analyses; working with a national expert panel on obesity, nutrition, physical activity and policy guidance related to obesity prevention; and identifying and overseeing successful strategies for implementing a knowledge translation framework that promotes research findings on obesity prevention through a large network of national service providers.

Email: jmadri1@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-5295

Melissa McCall has a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. During graduate school, she worked as a graduate assistant for the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability. In August 2008, Melissa became the Marketing and Design Specialist for the Center on Health Promotion Research for People with Disabilities.

Email: mmccal1@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-4540

Carolyn Mueller, MS, NSCA-CPT is from Badin, North Carolina.  In May 2008, she graduated from James Madison University with a Masters of Science in Kinesiology.  She also attended Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, NC where she received her bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science.  In September 2008, she began her current position as the Fitness Services Manager at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. 

Email: cmueller1@ric.org

Phone: 312-238-5001

Jane Mulligan, Ph.D., is an Assistant Research Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She co-founded (with Greg Grudic) the Intelligence in Action Laboratory for Robotics, Vision and Machine Learning. Her research areas are Computer Vision and Robotics, in particular real-time multiview reconstruction and empirical task analysis. She has done extensive work on reconstruction and rendering for immersive 3D telepresence environments for desktop collaboration, and in the past 3 years has directed the team developing the Virtual Exercise Environment (VEE) for RERC RecTech. Work on the VEE to date has included developing technologies for recording real trails, and a playback environment that displays recorded video according to the speed the user travels as well as modifying resistance (bikes and ergometers) or tilt (treadmills) according to recorded properties of the trail. Currently Mulligan supervises two Computer Science PhD students working on the VEE project. Dr. Mulligan is the director of the D1 project, Use of Virtual Exercise Environments for People with Disabilities.

Email: jane.mulligan@colorado.edu

Phone: 303-492-4591

Sumithra Murthy holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from University of Mumbai, India and a Master of Public Health from Northwestern University, Chicago. Sumithra joined the CHP in February of 2011 and is the Project Coordinator for the Longitudinal Health & Intellectual Disability Study (LHIDS), that consists of two research projects exploring health behavior and falls prevention among adults with intellectual disabilities. Prior to joining the LHIDS study, she has worked as a Project Coordinator at College of Nursing, UIC for the project, “Impact of a new WIC food package Fruit and Vegetable Cash-Voucher on WIC vendor participation, Accessibility, and Fruit and Vegetable Characteristics” and as a Research Specialist for the Bridging the Gap – Community Obesity Measures Project at Institute for Health Research and Policy (IHRP), UIC. As a physician in India, she has had extensive clinical experience as well as experience in working on public health programs in primary health centers.

Email: smurthy@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-1396

Cheeri Ong is an information specialist at the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD). She received her bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy and her master's degree in Physical Education with a Specialization in Adapted Physical Education. As an information specialist, she is involved in receiving and processing consumer requests from the NCPAD hotline and email services, as well as updating and expanding current online resources such as the NCPAD Accessible Programs and Organizations Databases. She is also involved in producing videoclips for the NCPAD website. In order to promote awareness of the importance of physical activity for individuals of all abilities, Cheeri has presented workshops and physical activity demonstrations, such as elastic band exercises and adapted yoga for individuals with disabilities, at local and national venues. One of her main goals and interests is to collect more information on accessible physical activity programs and other resources for children with disabilities and their families.

Email: cheeri@uic.edu

Phone: 312-996-9635

Sangeetha Padalabalanarayanan holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Madras (India), a Master of Science Degree in Bio Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her Master’s thesis specialized in Rehabilitation engineering.
she has joined as a research coordinator for RERC RecTech. She has earlier worked in the center as a Research Assistant for about an year. She also has worked as a Research Assistant for RERC for Landmine Survivors.

Email: spadal3@uic.edu

Phone: 312-996-0013

Email: gpierc2@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-1837

Amy Rauworth, MS, RCEP, is the Associate Director of Operations and Exercise Physiology Research at the Center on Health Promotion Research for Persons with Disabilities (CHP). Ms. Rauworth’s primary job responsibilities include work in the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (www.ncpad.org).  Additionally, she contributes to other Center grants that include:The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Recreational Technology and Exercise Physiology Benefiting Persons with Disabilities (www.rectech.org), and “Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Effects of a Physical Activity and Nutrition Intervention for Overweight/Obese Adults with Mobility Disabilities: PEP-II”.

She is a Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist with the American College of Sports Medicine.  Ms. Rauworth has applied exercise physiology experience in the areas of orthopedic and cardiac rehabilitation, health promotion, and corporate wellness.  Ms. Rauworth conducts Inclusive Fitness trainings nationally on behalf of NCPAD and specializes in accessible fitness center design.  In addition, Ms. Rauworth has over 14 years of personal training experience, focusing on the delivery of physical activity programming to older adults and people with disabilities. 

Email: rauworth@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-1584

James Rimmer, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Disability and Human Development, Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Kinesiology and Nutrition and Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. His research interests explore the use of new and emergent technologies in developing biobehavioral and environmental strategies to promote beneficial physical activity and healthful weight management in people with disabilities. He is particularly interested in the contextual factors associated with physical inactivity and the effects of rich-tailored messaging support (telephone, internet, text message, video) to provide a flexible, cost-effective delivery system for weight management and prevention of advanced physical decline in youth and adults with disabilities. He is Director of the Center on Health Promotion Research for Persons with Disabilities (CHP, www.uic-chp.org), which contains two federally funded Centers -- the  Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Interactive Exercise Technologies and Exercise Physiology for Persons with Disabilities and the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability.  He is also Director of the Disability Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP) on Obesity and Obesity-Related Secondary Conditions in Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities. 

Email: jrimmer@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-9651

Dr. Roth is the Chief Academic Advisor and an Attending Physician at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He is a specialist in working with patients with disabilities. He coordinates the clinical aspects of the proposed research, including recruitment and enrollment methods, physician training, and data mining of the electronic medical record for abstraction of relevant clinical indicators. In addition, during year 3, Dr. Roth will participate in data analysis and interpretation, cost-effectiveness evaluation, as well as manuscript publications and presentations.  He will also supervise data collection, entry, and management methods to ensure privacy and confidentiality are maintained.

Email: ejr@northwestern.edu

Phone: 312-238-1000

Michael Scott, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and Adjunct Associate Professor of Bioengineering at UIC. His research interests are in theory and methods for engineering design, universal design, and interdisciplinary product development. Professor Scott served as project director for the earlier RecTech development project to develop adapter kits to make Life Fitness cardiovascular exercise equipment accessible to wheelchair users. He is the project director on development project D3, Universal Design of Cardiovascular and Strength Fitness Equipment to Provide Effective Upper Body Exercise.

Email: mjscott@uic.edu

Phone: 312-996-4354

Natasha A. Spassiani, MSc, is from Toronto where she received both her BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees in Kinesiology and Health Sciences at York University. Natasha has a breadth of expertise from exercise physiology to sport psychology. She has experience working as an adaptive fitness instructor for children with developmental delays and youth who struggle with weight and movement.  Natasha is currently a Doctoral Student in Disability Studies and Human Development and works as a Graduate Assistant on the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project. Her research interests consist of health promotion for individuals with intellectual disabilities and how physical activity, exercise and sport can be used to help facilitate independent life skills in persons with intellectual disabilities.

Email: nspass2@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-3364

Bhaskaran Srinivasan, BS, is from Chennai, India and has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from SASTRA University, India. He is currently working as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Disability and Human Development. His primary duties involve assisting in the development and maintenance of NCPAD's website and providing IT support. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Computer Science.

Email: bsrini3@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-5921

Steph Steiner, BS, is from Nappanee, Indiana.  She earned her BS in Kinesiology from Indiana University-Bloomington.  She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Disability and Human Development with a focus in health promotion. Steph is employed as a research assistant/fitness specialist with the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, where she contributes to a falls prevention study.  Her main interest is promoting health for people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities through physical activity.

Email:sstein8@uic.edu

Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, PhD, is Professor and Head of the Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Applied Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at UIC. She is the Co-Principal Investigator of the DRRP.

Email: ysuarez@uic.edu

Phone: (312) 996-3051

Mohan Thirumalai has been working with NCPAD since 2000. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Madras (India), a Master of Science Degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

He is currently a student in Bioinformatics at the Bio Engineering department at the University of Illinois at Chicago and plans to specialize in drug discovery. He also holds an advanced diploma in software development and several certifications from Microsoft.

As a computer specialist for NCPAD, Mohan's responsibilities include maintenance of the website, development of software, video editing, computer maintenance and any other technology oriented work.

Email: mthiru1@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-0119

Karen L. Troy is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Kinesiology and Nutrition, and Bioengineering at UIC. She earned her PhD from the University of Iowa in 2003 with a focus on orthopaedic biomechanics and biomedical engineering. Dr. Troy's research program comprises several interdisciplinary efforts, the broad focus of which are to improve the quality of life of aging and disabled adults specifically by developing interventions based on targeted modes of physical activity. One line of research (R1 of the current RERC funding cycle) focuses on upper extremity biomechanics in manual wheelchair users, with the goal of developing universally accessible exercise equipment that can benefit users by improving shoulder joint mechanics and cardiovascular health. A second emphasis is on developing targeted modes of physical activity that can improve bone strength in older women. A third and related emphasis is on quantifying the role of the upper extremities during fall avoidance and impact, with the goal of developing interventions to prevent upper extremity injury.

Email: klreed@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-5495

Vijay Vasudevan, M.P.H., graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Science and a Master’s in Public Health. His current research interests include how race/ethnicity affects barriers and facilitators to physical activity for people with disabilities. Vijay is a graduate assistant under the Health Empowerment Zone grant.

Email: vvasud2@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-1624

Theresa Vidalon, MSW, is an advanced doctoral student in the Jane Addams College of Social Work at UIC. She is a project coordinator/research assistant and member of the Research Core at the CHP. Additionally, she is currently teaching research courses at the Institute for Clinical Social Work and working on her dissertation. Her current research interests focus on exploring family involvement when a relative with severe mental illness resides in a nursing home.

Email:tvidal2@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-1307

Lawrence C. Vogel, M.D. has been the Chief of Pediatrics at the Chicago Shriners Hospitals for Children since 1981, the Medical Director of the Spinal Cord Injury program since its inception in 1983, and in 2005 became the Assistant Chief of Staff, Medicine.

Dr. Vogel received his B.A. degree with distinction from Northwestern University in 1969 and his Medical Degree from the University of Illinois in 1973.  He served as a pediatric resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital and subsequently completed a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Michael Reese Hospital and the University of Chicago.  Dr. Vogel is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics and is certified in the Subspeciality of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine (American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation). Dr. Vogel is a Professor of Pediatrics at Rush Medical College.

Email: lvogel@shrinenet.org

Phone: 773-385-5528

Edward Wang, Ph.D., is a biostatistician and Research Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at UIC. Dr. Wang has served as a Co-Investigator and statistical consultant in several NIH and CDC-funded research projects in health promotion and physical activity for persons with disabilities. He has considerable experience in data management and large-scale database development. Dr. Wang’s statistical specialties include analysis methods for repeated measures, correlated categorical data, multilevel analysis, mixed model, data reduction techniques and multivariate data analysis techniques. Dr. Wang was awarded an NIH investigator disability supplement to examine the cost effectiveness of clinic-based health promotion programs for persons with physical disabilities from 2002-2004.

Email: chewang@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-0148

Tanya D. Whitehead, PhD has an Interdisciplinary doctorate degree in the fields of Education and Psychology, and has earned certification as a Specialist in Developmental and Handicapping Conditions from the Institute for Child Development, School of Medicine, University of Kansas; and certification in Online College Teaching from the University of Missouri. Her background includes 9 years in clinical practice, 15 years in higher education teaching and interprofessional online education, and 21 years in research.  She is a 2009 Fulbright awardee (China).

Email: tdw@uic.edu

Phone: 312-355-5926

Kiyoshi Yamaki, Ph.D., is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Disability and Human Development of the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). For the last six years, Dr. Yamaki has been a key investigator of two statewide survey projects exploring the general health status, secondary health conditions (i.e., obesity), and access to health services of individuals with disabilities in Illinois. He is also an experienced analyst of national and state level data sets (e.g., National Health Interview Survey, Survey of Income and Program Participation, Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System) on health status, economic status, and general demography. Currently, Dr. Yamaki is working in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Public Health to develop a statewide program to promote health and wellness of persons with disabilities in Illinois.

Email: kiyoshiy@uic.edu

Phone: 312-413-7860

Dr. Zhu, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. An internationally known scholar in Kinesmetrics (Measurement and Evaluation in Kinesiology), Dr. Zhu’s primary research interests are in the study and application of new measurement theories (e.g., item response theory) and statistical models/methods (e.g., equating) to the field of Kinesiology, especially the impact of body-mind exercises on health. His research has been well supported by external grants, including NIH and RWJF. He was the section editor of the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport between 1999 and 2005 and is the associate editor of Journal of Physical Activity and Health and. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, American College of Sports Medicine and Research Consortium of AAHPERD. He was a member of the Scientific Board of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports between 2005 and 2008 and has served on the FITNESSGRAM/ACTIVITYGRAM Advisory Committee since 2002.

Email: weimozhu@illinois.edu

Phone: 217-333-7503

Leigh Zisko, BA, is a graduate assistant for the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP).  She is currently working towards a Masters in Public Health through the School of Public Health, as well as a certificate in Management and Leadership in the Non-Profit Disability Organization through the Department of Disability and Human Development. Before moving to Chicago to begin her graduate studies, Leigh worked as a direct care provider for individuals with disabilities, as a Special Olympics coordinator, and as a case manager for the Arc of Hawaii. Her research interests include obesity prevention and reduction, coping mechanisms and stress reduction for individuals with disabilities, and access to physical activity opportunities for individuals with disabilities on a global scale.

Email: lzisko2@uic.edu