Funded from June 2000 to July 2007 as a cooperative agreement between the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Disability Research Institute (DRI) developed a national network of partners producing high-impact research in disability. Housed within the College of Applied Health Sciences' Center on Health, Aging, and Disability, the DRI served as a mechanism for partnering rigorous scientific research with the experience and practice expertise of the SSA to frame a focused research agenda designed to meet the informational needs of the agency.

The DRI cooperative agreement brought together nationally recognized teams to conduct projects identified as need areas within SSA with minimal time delays between project implementation and applicable information.

The resources of the Disability Research Institute included the University of Illinois expertise in disability, social sciences, engineering, law, public policy, and its National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the nation’s leading site for the development of supercomputing applications.

Over 100 researchers from across the nation participated in DRI projects enabling the institute to assemble the most effective teams possible to address the research questions posed.

Contact Information
Disability Research Institute
Center on Health, Aging, and Disability
College of Applied Health Sciences
University of Illinois
1206 South Fourth Street
112 Huff Hall
Champaign IL 61820
217-265-0279
217-244-6274 TTY
217-265-0358 FAX
dri@uiuc.edu    More detail...