Kessler Foundation Names John O’Neill, PhD, to Rehabilitation Research Team
2012-06-12 12:32:07 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEST ORANGE, N.J.—Kessler Foundation appointed John O’Neill, PhD, CRC, as vocational rehabilitation researcher, an inaugural position. Dr. O’Neill’s expertise broadens the scope of the Foundation’s rehabilitation research in mobility and cognition to include employment outcomes. He assumes the position in July 2012.
Rodger DeRose, president and chief executive officer of Kessler Foundation, said, “The addition of Dr. O’Neill will further integrate employment considerations in the Foundation’s rehabilitation research. Restoring function is important but getting individuals with disabilities back to employment is crucial to self-sufficiency and community integration.”
Dr. O’Neill, formerly a professor of counselor education programs for Hunter College of the City University of New York, has more than 30 years of experience in vocational rehabilitation. He is a noted expert in how culture, race, gender and socioeconomic status affect social outcomes after disability. Dr. O’Neill also studies how physical and cognitive function, government assistance benefits and healthcare coverage impact utilization of vocational services and job seeking by people with disabilities. His research is federally funded by government agencies, including the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research.
“I’m eager to contribute my knowledge and skills related to employment and disability to the Foundation’s philanthropic work and ongoing research on human performance, stroke, brain injury, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury,” said Dr. O’Neill. Upon joining Kessler Foundation, he will also have academic affiliations with the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School. His professional affiliations include the National Rehabilitation Association, American Counseling Association, American School Counseling Association and American Association for Mental Deficiency.
According to the 2010 Survey of Americans with Disabilities, by Kessler Foundation and the National Organization on Disability, people with disabilities are the largest minority in the US. Only 21 percent of the 54 million people with disabilities are employed and are, therefore, twice as likely as able-bodied Americans to live in poverty. Kessler Foundation approaches this gap through science and grantmaking. Through rehabilitation research, the Foundation discovers ways to help people recover from stroke, multiple sclerosis and injuries to the brain and spinal cord. Model systems in spinal cord injury and brain injury enable Kessler Foundation to conduct long-term follow up on individuals recovering from these injuries and identify obstacles to community reintegration. Through strategic funding and philanthropic leadership, Kessler Foundation has invested more than $25 million in organizations and programs to increase the participation of people with disabilities in the workforce.
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, the largest public charity in the field of disability, conducts rehabilitation research in mobility and cognition that advances the care of people with multiple sclerosis, brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury. Kessler Foundation is one of six centers in the U.S. to have federally funded model systems for traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. Kessler Foundation Program Center focuses on solutions to address the persistently high rates of unemployment among people disabled by injury or disease. Find us at KesslerFoundation.org and on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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Contacts:
Lauren Scrivo, 973.324.8384, 973.768.6583 - c, [email protected]
Carolann Murphy, 973.324.8382, [email protected]
