About Us
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine received a five-year National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research grant of $1.8 million.
The grant will be used to identify and evaluate current practice and methods in the conduct of minority disability research and to begin to increase capacity in this area.
The goal of the grant is to advance the state of the science in the conduct of minority disability research and to develop more persons who are passionate and interested in devoting careers to this line of research.
The project will involve a national survey that examines the experiences of Americans with disabilities from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups, and what research methods, practices and strategies are needed to advance the field in culturally competent research.
In addition, the project will focus on a longitudinal study of post-injury unemployment for minorities with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries; and prevalence and trends in employment discrimination due to disability for different ethnic groups.
Juan Carlos Arango, is the Principal Investigator and will be partnering with co-principal investigators Dr. Eugenio Monasterio, M.D . , of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Dr. Paul Wehman, of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center in the School of Education. The team also will collaborate with the Department of Biostatistics in the School of Medicine.
Partners at other universities and outside of VCU include Virginia State University, Norfolk State University, Virginia Union University, Penn State, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Kent State University, the American Association of People with Disabilities as well as the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services.
The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research is one of three components of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education.
