NIH updates on disability as a priority population and opportunities for students, trainees and early career professionals with a disability

Meeting Description:

Drs. Zazove, Kennedy, and Monzack will be interviewed as panelists. They will share their clinical, policy, and research experiences working with the disability population in healthcare. We will learn more about how trainees with disabilities can navigate healthcare and research opportunities and what supports have been put into place with the NIH’s declaration of disability as a priority population.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Philip Zazove is a Professor and the past Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan. As a disability health research expert, he has published extensively on and attained grant funding for research on health services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. He also serves on national boards and committees related to this topic, including  the Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Loss and the Advisory Board for the National Center for Deaf Health Research.

Dr. Jae Kennedy is a professor of health policy and administration at the Elson S Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University. He started his research career in disability policy 35 years ago at the World Institute on Disability, working for Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann, and Simi Litvak. His research focuses on understanding the health and employment disparities experienced by people with chronic illness and disability, and on developing effective programs and policies to lessen those disparities. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, led the Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living, and received the Switzer Distinguished Research Fellowship from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research in 2000.

Dr. Elyssa Monzack is the Deputy Scientific Director at the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) within the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). She directs the (DIR) training program and serves as an advisor to the NIDCD scientific director. She previously served as the NIDCD’s intramural chief of staff, a scientific program manager, and a post-doctoral research scholar in auditory neuroscience in the laboratory of Dr. Lisa Cunningham. Her prior research experience includes live imaging to examine the interaction between the supporting cells of the inner ear and sensory hair cells following ototoxic insult.

Meeting Agenda:

5 to 10 minutes: Welcome and Introductions (Dr. Michael McKee and Amanda Taus)

40 min – Panel discussion moderated by Amanda Taus

10-15 min – Q&A session questions from the audience

30 min – Networking time