Announcing the 2024 Joan Schafer Research Faculty Award in Sport, Fitness, and Disability

August 19, 2024

The Institute for Research on Women and Gender has awarded a Joan Schafer Research Faculty Award in Sport, Fitness, and Disability to Carrie A. Karvonen-Gutierrez, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. 

Dr. Karvonen-Gutierrez's project is “Investigating relationships between disability, accommodation status, and trajectories of physical function and physical activity among a diverse cohort of older adult women.”

Examining functional and activity-related outcomes of disability and accommodation of disability in a cohort of older adult women is critical at a time when the US population of older adults will see a marked increase in the years ahead. This project will examine the extent of disability and the effectiveness of disability accommodations among older adult women in Michigan, exploring how these factors influence physical activity and function over time.

The research project will be led by Dr. Carrie Karvonen-Gutierrez, with collaborators Avinash Chandran, PhD, MS, Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention, NCAA Injury Surveillance Program; Jillian Baker, MPH, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan; and Adrian Boltz, MS, School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan.

Established in 2015, the Joan Schafer Research Faculty Award in Sport, Fitness, and Disability supports faculty projects investigating how living with a physical challenge influences access to and participation in sport and physical activity. The awarded project will receive a $5,000 grant.