This grant is awarded to Marquette University through the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and builds on a special strength in rehabilitative bioengineering (contact: Dr. Jack Winters).  Also involved from Marquette are the College of Nursing (contact: Dr. Jill Winters) and the School of Dentistry (contact: Dr. Michelle Robinson).

Partners in California:

• Western University of Health Sciences’ Center for Disability Issues in the Health Professions (CDIHP), which was established in 1998 in response to the concerns of the disability community, and focuses on improving the capabilities of healthcare providers to meet the needs of people with disabilities, increasing the number of qualified individuals with disabilities who pursue careers in the health professions, supporting people with disabilities in becoming more vocal and active participants in their healthcare, and conducting research on community based health education, prevention and healthcare services for people with disabilities.  See also http://www.westernu.edu/cdihp.html (key contacts: Brenda Premo and June Issacson Kailes). 
• UC Ergonomics Lab located at U.C. Berkeley's Richmond Field Station, targets human factors and product usability research and evaluation, with a special focus on the upper extremity.  The  laboratory occupies 3,000 square feet of accessible research and meeting space, with considerable state-of-the-art capabilities for ergonomic and biomechanical measurement and evaluation.   It is part of the 3-campus (UC Berkeley, San Francisco, Davis) Center for Occupational and Environmental Health.  See also http://www.me.berkeley.edu/ergo/.
• Human Spectrum Design, L.L.C., provides special expertise in universal design of products.  The President is Molly Follette Story.
• Kaiser Permanente is America’s largest not-for-profit health maintenance organization, serving 8.1 million members in California and eight states and the District of Columbia.

Partners in Milwaukee:

• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Center for Rehabilitation Science and Technology, which is the home for the Assistive Technology Outcomes Measurement Systems (ATOMS) Project (contact: Dr. Roger Smith).
• IndependenceFirst, metro-Milwaukee's non-residential Independent Living Center operated by a staff and board composed primarily of people with disabilities.  See also http://www.independencefirst.org (contact: Lee Schultz).

Other Partners:

This RERC also supports a national student design competition that targets innovative approaches for enhancing the accessibility and usability of medical instrumentation products, coordinated through the Biomedical Engineering Program at the University of Connecticut (contact: Dr. John Enderle). 

Also involved are colleagues from the FDA and the medical device industry. 

The Advisory Council of this RERC is chaired by Alexandra Enders.

RERC-AMI Management Team

• Jack Winters (Marquette University) - PI and Co-Director
• Molly Follette Story (Human Spectrum Design and U.C. Berkeley) - Co-PI and Co-Director
• Brenda Premo (Western University) - Director of Training Activities
• June Issacson Kailes (Western University) - Director of Dissemination Activities