Enhancing Self-Esteem in Women with Physical Disabilities

About the Presenters

[ Margaret A. Nosek, Ph.D. ]
[ Heather B. Taylor, Ph.D. ]
[ Rosemary B. Hughes, Ph.D. ]

Margaret (Peg) A. Nosek, Ph.D. received her doctorate in Rehabilitation and a Master of Arts in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Texas in Austin, and she holds a Masters of Arts in Music from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Nosek is currently a professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She has done considerable research and writing on developments of public policy that affect the ability of people with disabilities to live independently in the community.

Dr. Nosek is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities (CROWD), Department of Physical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She has served as the principal investigator on research projects on self-esteem, wellness, abuse and violence, reproductive health, sexuality, access to health care, aging with disability, secondary health conditions, and independent living for women with disabilities. Dr. Nosek's accomplishments are reflected in approximately 75 articles or book chapters, and more than 100 presentations at national and international conferences.

Dr. Peg Nosek is a recipient of numerous awards for her research and advocacy. As a person with a severe physical disability, she has been both a pioneer and an activist in the disability right movement, including vigorously supporting passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities has honored her as a "Disability Patriot."

Heather B. Taylor, Ph.D., is the Assistant Director for Research at the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities and an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Taylor holds a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Houston. She has served as co-investigator on several federal grants including NIDRR-funded projects on health promotion for women aging with disability and self-esteem and women with disabilities. She is project director on a CDC-funded study on stress management and women with disabilities, and on a NIH-funded depression project that is testing a self-management intervention among women with disabilities. Dr. Taylor is co-investigator and project director on a new NIDRR-funded project addressing depression in rural women with disabilities. She has collaborated in research projects at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research and the Center for Excellence in Aging with Disability at the Houston in Houston. She has co-authored publications and delivered presentations on self-esteem and other psychosocial health issues among women with disabilities.

Rosemary B. Hughes, Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities and Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Dr. Hughes is licensed as a psychologist in the State of Texas, and she holds a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Houston. She has served as principal investigator for various federally-funded grants on the health of women with disabilities including a NIDRR-funded project on health promotion for women aging with disability, a NIDRR-funded project on self-esteem and women with disabilities, a CDC-funded investigation on the effectiveness of a stress self-management program designed for women with disabilities, an NIH-funded depression self-management program for women with disabilities. Dr. Hughes is the principal investigator on a new NIDRR grant to study depression among rural women with disabilities. She is co-author on publications on self-esteem and other psychosocial concerns of women with disabilities. She has twelve years of providing clinical services for self-esteem issues and has presented widely on the topic of self-esteem.

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