chiucy@illinois.edu

“I conduct theory/model-driven studies of three main research themes—health promotion, psychosocial adjustment to disability and chronic illness, and social participation. These research studies are important to understand how people with disability and chronic illness live healthy, meaningful, and productive lives.”

kdifilip@illinois.edu

“My research focuses on the use of apps to support nutrition education and health behavior change. My work centers on providing nutrition and health educators with tools and strategies to support behavior change for preventing and managing chronic diseases.”

timhale@illinois.edu

“My research focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of health technologies that enable people to live healthy and active lives. I pay special attention to digital inequalities and study how differences in technology adoption and use contribute to social and health disparities. My goals are to ensure that new health technologies are equitable and contribute to reducing health disparities.”

yjan@illinois.edu

“My research focuses on the development of clinical guidelines and assistive technologies for the improvement of quality of life in people with disabilities. I am also interested in  evaluating the impact of the provision of assistive devices on the employment, social participation and quality of life in people with disabilities.”

mahajan6@illinois.edu

Harshal Mahajan serves as the Assistant Director of Research for the McKechnie Family Living in Interactive Future Environments (LIFE) home research center where he manages research and development activities with smart home and robotic technologies. He isa principal investigator of a NIDILRR funded Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects grant for evaluating feasibility and efficacy of a fear of falling intervention for individuals with Multiple Sclerosis. His role further extends to support the MS in Health Technology program.

stmejia@illinois.edu

Website

“To truly support health and independence, health technologies must be sensitive to the context and complexity of life as it is lived. Thus, my research examines the processes by which older adults understand their health and use health technologies in daily life, with the goal of informing the development and implementation of technologies that are responsive to older adults’ dynamic needs, goals, and abilities.”

ricela@illinois.edu

“My research primarily focuses on management of secondary impairments associated with physical disabilities. As healthcare improves, individuals with disabilities are living longer but face new impairments, such as pain, mobility limitations and poor quality of life. I investigate interventions to keep people with disabilities active and healthy through their lifespan.”

wendyr@illinois.edu

“My research supports successful aging through the design of technology. Older adults are involved in projects that focus on: personal, social, and telepresence robots; digital home assistants and other smart devices; applications to support medication adherence; and understanding the needs of people who are aging with sensory or mobility impairments.”