Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) Program - Community Living and Participation

The Center for Education in Health Sciences, in close collaboration with faculty throughout Northwestern University and the Shirley Ryan Abilitylab (formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) will in the course of this five-year, ARRT project, provide training to six post-doctoral fellows who will develop new skills to compete successfully for scientific career opportunities in research that advances understanding of community living and participation for individuals with disabilities. The goals of this project are to (1) Provide high quality, formal didactic, and community-engaged experiential training, knowledge, and skills in advanced, cutting-edge research methods and analytic approaches applied to research that enhances community living and participation; (2) Develop a cadre of researchers from diverse scholarly and clinical backgrounds who are capable of designing and executing translational and community-engaged research studies. The objectives are to (1) Recruit and train at least six highly qualified postdoctoral fellows in advanced rehabilitation research methods, (2) Provide high quality formal didactic training including community-engaged experiential research training, and (3) Evaluate the effectiveness of the fellowship program and the fellows’ ability to collaborate in multi-disciplinary teams within the community. Anticipated outcomes are: (1) recruitment of high caliber candidates, (2) excellent mentorship, (3) completion of fellowship program requirements, and (4) successful placement in academic, research, and other relevant career opportunities by all trainees. The expected products of trainees are successful completion of formal coursework, execution of a research project, submission of at least one small research grant application, and submission of at least three first-authored manuscripts for peer review publication.