Michelle A. Meade, Ph.D. is a professor with tenure in the University of Michigan Departments of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Family Medicine. As a rehabilitation psychologist, she conducts research with, provides clinical services to, and advocates for individuals with physical disabilities. Dr. Meade currently is the principal investigator (PI) and director two separate interdisciplinary centers from the National Institute of Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) within the Administration on Community Living:
- The UM Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) Technology Increasing Knowledge: Technology Optimizing Choice (TIKTOC) which is focused on developing and evaluating mobile technologies to enhance health management and independence among adolescents and young adults with disabilities;
- The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Investigating Disability factors and promoting Environmental Access for Healthy Living (IDEAL RRTC), which is focused on promoting healthy aging for individuals with long-term physical disabilities.
Her primary research interests focus around self-management and enhancing health and participation, and reducing health care disparities and costs, among individuals with disabilities through the identification of modifiable factors, the development and validation of culturally relevant interventions, and the implementation of tailored dissemination and knowledge translation strategies. Dr. Meade is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the immediate past-president-elect of Rehabilitation Psychology, Division 22 of APA. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine and a member of the Editorial Board for Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation.