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ABOUT
US:
Sheila H. Akabas, Ph.D. - Director
- Dr. Akabas is an internationally
renowned expert and scholar of human resource management,
disability policy, and delivery of social services to
workers, as well as a Professor at the Columbia
University School of Social Work. She has served as
Principal Investigator on numerous government and
foundation funded research projects, and she has served
as a consultant to corporations, trade unions and
nonprofit institutions in the United States and
abroad. Dr. Akabas recently served as consultant to
the United Nations Development Program on disability
policy, she is on the Executive Committee of the
President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities, and she chairs the Technical Advisory
Committee of the Dole Foundation. Dr. Akabas has
been honored for her work by the Industrial and Labor
Relations School of Cornell University as its Groat
Awardee, as well as by the National association of Social
Work, the National Rehabilitation Association and Boston
University, and she has been named a Switzer
scholar. She is the author and editor of several
books and contributes widely to a variety of
publications. She is a graduate of Cornell
University and holds a doctorate in economics from New
York University.
Link to CUSSW Faculty Bio
Lauren B. Gates, Ph.D. - Director of
Research
- An expert in the development of computerized monitoring and evaluation systems for disability management and employee assistance programs, Dr. Gates has been investigating issues related to job maintenance and advancement for workers with disabilities for nearly a decade. This work has included both large scale field research and disability management program design, implementation and evaluation in a variety of settings ranging from universities to union health plans to large corporations. She has published widely in the field including Disability Management A Complete System to Reduce Costs, Increase Productivity, Meet Employee Needs, and Ensure Legal Compliance (1992; AMACOM) co-authored with Sheila Akabas and Donald Galvin and Planning for Disability Management An Approach to Controlling Costs While Caring for Employees (1995; ACA) co-authored with Dr. Akabas.
Virginia Oran-Sabia, MSW - Case Management
Supervisor
- Oversees the Mental Health Disorders with Workplace Consequences Project, a major research and demonstration project jointly administered by the Center for Social Policy and Practice in the Workplace, Columbia University School of Social Work, and District Council 37, AFSCME. Ms. Oran-Sabia has over five years experience working with multiple employees in a union setting. Her experience includes provision of case management, direct service related to the needs of multiple problem clients, in particular, dealing with issues related to legal services, family and mental health issues and substance abuse as they impact on clients in the world of work.