Global Health Policy Development and Analysis

I currently work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute at Maynooth University in Ireland. My postdoctoral work is focused on policy development, evaluation, and capacity building at the national and international level as part of the World Health Organization’s Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE) Initiative and AT2030. As part of this postdoctoral fellowship, I am working in Kenya and Malawi on assistive technology related capacity building projects, and working towards the development of a framework and evaluative tool for national assistive technology policies. In August 2017 and August 2019, I had the honour of attending meetings of the GATE initiative at the World Health Organization in Geneva. The 2017 meetings resulted in several position papers outlining key global issues in assistive technology, of which I was fortunate to lead one, and contribute to another. The 2019 meetings were consultations on the development of a Global Report on Assistive Technology, to be released in 2021. Papers from these meetings can be found here ( Volume 1 and Volume 2). In Volume 1, you will find two papers which I led with global authorship teams on the topics of UNCRPD reporting and national datasets for assistive technology met and unmet need.

Wheelchair Skills Training

My PhD dissertation research focused on alternative methods of powered wheelchair skills training for individuals with cognitive impairment. I also have research and clinical experience in manual wheelchair skills training. I successfully defended my dissertation, entitled “Powered wheelchair skills training for older adults with cognitive impairment: Using shared control to facilitate independence” in May 2019. I am now furthering this work through two projects: 1) assessing market readiness for shared control technology, and 2) co-leading a project to address the evidence gap in powered wheelchair use and cognition.

Assistive Technology

My interests in new and emerging assistive technology range from evaluation of wheeled mobility devices and interfaces to the development/application of technology for independence. I have specific interest in user-centred development of assistive technologies and evaluation of existing technologies for independence. In January 2019, I led a collaborative effort to identify the top priorities for assistive technology research, policy, education, and clinical work in the Pacific Northwest Region (including Alberta, British Columbia, and Washington State). If you would like to know more, please see our report here.