NIDRR Grantee and Staff Recognition

The NCDDR congratulates each of the following NIDRR grantees and staff members. All grantees are encouraged to contact the NCDDR with information to share in future issues of The Research Exchange. Notify NCDDR of NIDRR Grantee/Staff Recognition.

On October 20, 2000, The NIDRR Director, will be honored as the recipient of the Gold Key Award from the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine at its 77th annual meeting in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The Gold Key Award was established in 1932 as a certificate of merit to members of the medical and applied professions who have rendered extraordinary service to the cause of rehabilitation. It is the highest honor given by the Congress. Dr. Gerben DeJong, of the NIDRR-grantee National Rehabilitation Hospital, received this prestigious award in 1998 at the 75th ACRM meeting. For more information, contact Ellen Blasiotti at Ellen_Blasiotti@ed.gov

Georgia Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System research staff members Jennifer Coker and James S. Krause, Ph.D. received a Second Place Poster award at the American Spinal Injury Association Meeting in Chicago on April 14-16, 2000. The poster was titled: The Relationship of Alcohol, Drug, and Tobacco Use With Personality in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury. (In the past issue we highlighted the First Place Poster awarded to researchers from another NIDRR grantee, the RTC on Secondary Conditions of SCI.) For additional information, contact Ms. Coker via email at: jennifer_coker@shepherd.org

On April 21, 2000, WGBH Educational Foundation's Media Access was named one of five Finalists in the Media, Arts & Entertainment category of the 2000 Computerworld Smithsonian Awards http://www.cwsmithsonian.org [Inactive Link 10/02]. A panel of distinguished judges selected 51 finalists in 10 categories from a total of 444 laureates, whose work was nominated for an award. This year 39 nominations were submitted in the Media, Arts & Entertainment category.

Media Access was nominated by Mr. Paul F. Liao, President, Panasonic Technologies, Inc. and Chief Technology Officer of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America. Its closed captioning and video description make television, film and digital media more accessible to 37 million Americans with sensory disabilities.

In addition, CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media's  Web Access Project was named as a Laureate in the Education and Academia category. The nomination was submitted by America Online. For additional information, contact Larry Goldberg, Director and Principal Investigator, at larry_goldberg@wgbh.org

Gregg C. Vanderheiden, Ph.D., received one of the first annual Ron Mace Designing for the 21st Century Leadership Awards, presented on Friday, June 16th, 2000 at the Designing for the 21st Century II International Conference on Universal Design in Providence, RI. Named in honor of Ron Mace, FAIA, who died in 1998, the awards recognize those who have worked to make his vision of a universally inclusive society a reality. The award was presented to Dr. Vanderheiden for his "leadership role in promoting action by industry leaders and innovation in government policy." Dr. Vanderheiden is the Director of the Trace Center and Principal Investigator for the RERC on Information Technology Access and (with Judy Harkins) the RERC on Telecommunication Access. For more information, contact Kate Vanderheiden at vanderk@trace.wisc.edu

Kristofer Hagglund, Ph.D., was named as one of six recipients of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship for September, 2000-August, 2001. An Associate Professor in the Department of PM&R at the University of Missouri, Dr. Hagglund serves as Principal Investigator of the Missouri Model Spinal Cord Injury System. Until taking this fellowship, he also served as a Principal Investigator with the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC), investigating the impact of managed care on persons with arthritis.

Initiated in 1973, the Fellowship program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and conducted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences. Its purpose is to engage outstanding mid-career health professionals in assuming leadership roles in health policy and management. The six Fellows will interact with key legislators and advisers in Washington, D.C. while researching and writing on national health care legislation issues. For further information, contact Dianna Borsi O'Brien, Senior Information Specialist, at dobrien@jmail.jour.missouri.edu

Dr. Edward Carr of the RRTC on Positive Behavioral Support received the Don Hake Applied Research Award from the American Psychological Association's Division of Behavior Analysis (Division 25). The award for outstanding contributions to applied behavioral research was presented on August 4, 2000 at the APA's 108th annual convention, held in Washington, DC.

On October 22, 1999, Dr. Carr received a 1999 Distinguished Research Award from The Arc of the United States at the 50th National Convention in Nashville, TN. Dr. Carr was honored for his research contributions to assessment and intervention in the field of positive behavior support. For further information about his research, please contact Dr. Carr at 631-632-7839 or by email at tcarr@psych1.psy.sunysb.edu

Congratulations to WheelchairNet (August 6, 2000) and ABLEDATA (August 18, 2000), selected as Site of the Week on The Disability Resources Monthly (DRM) Guide to Disability Resources on the Internet. Produced by the nonprofit organization Disability Resources, Inc., The DRM Guide is often considered the most authoritative guide to disability-related resources on the Internet. These sites were featured on the front page of the DRM Guide for one week, and continue to be listed with other featured pages. Check it out at http://www.disabilityresources.org/FEATURES.html

WheelchairNet http://www.wheelchairnet.org/ is a feature of the RERC on Wheeled Mobility, at the University of Pittsburgh. Contact Dr. Douglas Hobson, Principal Investigator, for additional information at dhobson@pitt.edu

ABLEDATA http://www.abledata.com/ is "the Premier Source for Information on Assistive Technology!" For additional information, contact Steve Lowe, Associate Project Manager and Webmaster, at lowe@macroint.com

Dr. Sureyya Dikmen was the recipient of the prestigious William Fields Caveness Award from the Brain Injury Association at the 19th Annual National Symposium, held in Chicago in July, 2000. This award is presented to an individual who through research on a national and/or international level has made outstanding contributions toward bettering the lives of persons who have sustained traumatic brain injuries. She serves as Principal Investigator of the University of Washington Traumatic Brain Injury Model System. For additional information, contact Dr. Dikmen at dikmen@u.washington.edu.

 

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