Mark Priestley is a lecturer in the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (England) and administrator of the international discussion group <disability-research@jiscmail.ac.uk>. His current research interests include the generational and life course dynamics of disability, and the analysis of disability debates within the countries of European Union.

Johans Tveit Sandvin is Professor of Sociology at Bod? University (Norway) and Professor of Human Services at Lules University of Technology (Sweden). He has researched and published widely on questions related to Social History, Social Policy, and Disability. He has played an active role in the community of disability research I Scandinavia, and was one of the founders of Nordic Network on Disability Research (NNDR).

Nina Slota is a Ph.D. candidate in Developmental Psychology at the City University of New York. She is a pre doctoral fellow at the Research and Training Center on the Community Integration of Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury at Mount Sinai Hospital. Her dissertation research explores narrative and life course issues of people with and without disabilities.

Daniela Martin is a Ph.D. candidate in Social Psychology at the City University of New York. She has conducted research on the psychological aspects of hearing loss and the rehabilitation of deaf people. Her other interests include the study of social identity in minority populations and diversity practices in multicultural settings.

Beth Sperber Richie, is a trauma psychologist and consultant. Her current research and practice interests include the psycho-social impact of trauma cross-culturally, interventions for survivors of multiple traumas, and resilience in trauma recovery. Dr. Richie has a B.A. in Human Biology from Brown University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Angela Ferguson, is a psychologist, consultant and faculty member at The George Washington University. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of multicultural organizations and cross cultural communities. Dr. Ferguson received her B.A. from Hampton University, her M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Maria Gomez, has over ten years of professional experience as a trainer facilitator, consultant, psychotherapist, and social science researcher. As a psychotherapist, Dr. Gomez specializes in trauma, adult development and psychopathology. She has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Maryland.

Dalia El Khoury is the Research Assistant in the Trauma Research Team. She is a graduate of Duke University where she earned a Bachelors degree in Psychology.

Zahabia Adamaly is the Research Associate in the Trauma Research Team. Ms. Adamaly has an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Grinnell College, Iowa and a Masters degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, New York.

Elaine Gerber is a medical anthropologist. She is Senior Research Associate in the Policy Research and Program Evaluation Department at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and an instructor at New School University in New York.

Corinne Kirchner is Director of Policy Research and Program Evaluation at the American Foundation for the Blind, and Lecturer at Columbia University School of Public Health.

Justin Powell is a doctoral research fellow at Berlin's Max Planck Institute for Human Development, where he is writing a dissertation entitled "Barriers to Inclusion: Special Education Institutionalization in Germany and the United States". He received a BA from Swarthmore College and an MA from the Humboldt University of Berlin (1999). His main research interests are sociology of education, social inequality, and disability studies.

Hilde Haualand is a social anthropologist and a researcher at Fafo Institute for Labour and Social and at Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Studies (Norway). She has been active in the deaf movement for many years. She has published studies about the deaf movement and about the transnational deaf community.

Arne Gr?nningsµter has a professional background in social work and is now researcher at Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research (Norway). He has for several years been involved in research cooperation with the Baltic countries and has published studies of social policy development in the Nordic-Baltic regions. Welfare state issues, social policy and living conditions are core areas of research.

Inger Lise Skog Hansen is a researcher at Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research (Norway). She has worked within the disability movement for several years. Her main interest has been disabled youths and the social construction of disability. disability issues, welfare state issues and living conditions are her core areas of research.

Timothy Epp is Assistant Professor, Sociology, Redeemer University College and Course Director at York University (Canada). His doctoral research was in the area of disability, identity and social policy in the Canadian context. Since then he has been conducting research in the areas of occupational health, chronic illness and personhood. His current interests are in the definition and implementation of a person centred care philosophy for individuals with dementia in the region of Hamilton, Ontario.

Yasmin Hussain is Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds (England). Her current research interests are in the areas of ethnicity, disability, gender and race.