Webinar - Research to Policy Brief: Obesity and Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

William Neumeier

William Neumeier is a Postdoctoral fellow with the UAB and Lakeshore Foundation Research Collaborative, and he is also a member of the UAB Nutrition & Obesity Research Center. Dr. Neumeier obtained his PhD in Lifespan Developmental Psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was also a NIH T32 pre-doctoral fellow with the Nutrition & Obesity Research Center from 2011-2015. During his training and career, Dr. Neumeier has focused on the relationship between obesity, nutrition, exercise, and behavior. Dr. Neumeier's research has been awarded for its novelty and impact. Currently Dr. Neumeier manages the POWERS for ID study, which explores the impact of a telehealth and motivational interviewing approach on weight loss for adults with ID. He also works with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability to promote inclusive health behaviors.

Christine Grosso

Christine Grosso is the Public Policy Analyst at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) where she works on federal policy and legislative issues that affect people with developmental disabilities and their families.

Prior to joining the AUCD team, in June of 2015 she completed a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental & related Disabilities (LEND) fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Health Administration. She was an active member of the OHSU Healthcare Transition Committee and Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Oregon Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Coalition, and Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities. In her role as the Health Administration fellow, she coordinated the Healthcare Transition Conference for healthcare providers, families, and individuals who experience disability. The conference focused on healthcare, employment, special education, guardianship, special needs trust, and sexual health. She completed research in the area of transition services from a family perspective, which she has presented at several state and national conference.

Dr. James Rimmer

Dr. James Rimmer is director of the Lakeshore Foundation/University of Alabama-Birmingham Research Collaborative. Until 2012, he was professor of disability and human development at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

For the past 25 years, Dr. Rimmer has been developing and directing health promotion programs for people with disabilities. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on various topics related to physical activity, health promotion, secondary conditions and disability. He is director of two federally funded centers, the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability and the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Interactive Exercise Technologies and Exercise Physiology for People with Disabilities.