IDRAC 2016 Speaker Spotlight: Dr. Margaret Nosek

Dr. Margaret Nosek and colleagues present Friday, November 18th, 12:30-1:30pm SLT/US Pacific, at Virtual Ability's International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference. They will discuss “Women with mobility impairments in community weight loss programs: Exploring new venues in virtual worlds.”

Women with mobility impairments have two major barriers to maintaining an appropriate weight. Their lack of mobility means that they are at greater risk of becoming obese, and there are no commercial public weight loss programs designed specifically for women with disabilities. The Center for Research on Women with Disabilities (CROWD) at Baylor College of Medicine designed a project to address these barriers.

This presentation will provide information about the prevalence of overweight and obesity among women with disabilities, the difficulties they experience in trying to access community-based weight loss programs, and the pilot study conducted on the GoWoman weight management program for women with mobility impairments in Second Life.

Margaret (Peg) Nosek, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine and Senior Scientist at TIRR Memorial Hermann (Houston, TX, US). She is the Executive Director of the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities (CROWD). She holds an additional position as Adjunct Professor in the College of Nursing at Texas Woman’s University, Houston. Her doctorate is in rehabilitation research from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Nosek’s main research interest is on improving the health of women with physical disabilities, especially developing interventions disparities in reproductive health and access to healthcare services. She has conducted many large funded studies, several of which have taken place in Second Life. She is the author of numerous publications and the recipient of several prestigious awards, from organizations such as the American College of Physical Medicine and the Rehabilitation Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Nosek lives with spinal muscular atrophy, a severe congenital physical disability, and is a disability rights activist. She has worked closely with Justin Dart and others in the independent living movement. She has been honored as a “Disability Patriot” by the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.

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International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC)
November 18 & 19, 2016
The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability, Second Life®

IDRAC is an annual professional conference which celebrates progress and the future of the disability rights movement in the United States and across the world. It is free and open to the public, hosted by Virtual Ability in Second Life®. A full schedule of the conference presentations will be released when it is finalised.