About the Presenter

Dr. David B. Gray is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Occupational Therapy at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri U.S.A. He teaches courses on disability policy. He is the principal investigator on several research projects on the participation of people with mobility impairments and on the environmental factors that influence participation (assistive technology and personal assistance). In partnership with Paraquad, a St. Louis independent living center, his research group is developing objective measures to assess the barriers and facilitators to participation that are frequently found in the environment. He has been active in developing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). He is a consultant to the Office on Disability at the US Department of Health and Human Services. He serves on the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Advisory Council.

Dr. Gray was the Deputy Director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1990 through 1995. At the NIH he helped to develop a national research program in the area of learning disabilities from 1981 – 1986 and 1988 - 1990. He was the author of the NIH supplemental research training grants, research fellowships for individuals with disabilities and the program announcement that resulted in the funding of 12 institutional rehabilitation research-training grants. From 1986 to 1987, Dr. Gray, a C5/6 quadriplegic, was the Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC.