On May 9, 2025, Dr. Daniel Armstrong, Director of the Mailman Center, and Dr. Rodney Samaco, a senior staff member at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), presented a webinar entitled “Engaging Individuals with Disabilities in the Research Process.” The webinar was designed to “inform and inspire” participation of individuals with disabilities as part of research teams and is a collaboration between the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) network, funded by NCATS, and the AUCD.
It was open to faculty, staff, trainees, and individuals with disabilities at more than 100 universities across the United States that have a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC), and/or CTSA.
The webinar is one component of a CTSA Working Group, led by Dr. Armstrong, that is developing a toolkit to assist investigators and individuals with lived disability experience in forming collaborations to conduct scientifically impactful research that is meaningful to the disability community. The Working Group originated from a project at the Mailman Center and Miami CTSI and has since evolved into a national initiative.
