Current News

This past month, Lurie Institute director Monika Mitra attended a conference in London for the Lancet Commission on Disability and Health.

The Lurie Institute is honored to be among the Lancet's selected academics, researchers, and advocates who are dedicated to bettering the health of people with disabilities. Learn more about the Lancet Commission on Disability and Health.

The Lurie Institute was excited to meet with Dr. Sami Schalk, who took time out during her visit to Brandeis to sit down for a meet-and-greet with Lurie researchers and other staff. Dr. Schalk was at Brandeis to give a set of lectures at the Mandel Center for the Humanities.

Find out more about Dr. Schalk's Mandel Center lectures.

The Lurie Institute is pleased to announce that Evan Sweeney has been selected as the 2026 Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellow.

A sex educator and founder of Cripping Up Sex, Evan's keynote conversation with Rebecca Cokley of the Ford Foundation will take place on April 28, 2026 at 1 p.m. ET. The event will be held online only.

Register for the 2026 Keynote Event, Pleasure as a Human Right

Learn More about Evan

Disability Day of Mourning is marked each year to honor the lives of people with disabilities killed by family members and caregivers in the United States. Over the past five years, 548 people have been murdered by their parents, relatives, or caregivers.

At the Heller School for Social Polilcy and Management event, held on March 3, Lurie institute director Monika Mitra addressed attendees, joined by Jessica Chaikof, one of the event's coordinators (photo at left), and event coordinators and Lurie doctoral students Jessica Chaikof and Fernanda Escobar presented a slide on how to end filicide (photo at right).

The Lurie Institute is excited to announce that Teresa Nguyen, director of the Community Living Equity Center at Lurie, has joined the Self-Direction Center's Board of Directors. The Self-Direction Center has a diverse board that represents the broader self-direction community and works to strengthen self-direction nationally through collaboration, community, and collective action.

Learn more about the Self-Direction Center.

The Heller School Disability Working Group and Lurie Institute for Disability Policy are hosting a gathering to honor and remember disabled people who have lost their lives due to ableism and neglect. The event will be a moment of reflection, remembrance, and solidarity. Lurie Institute director Monika Mitra will offer an introduction, which will be followed by an interactive session facilitated by Jessica Chaikof (Brandeis Peer Accessibility Liaisons). Jaspreet Mahal, Senior Accessibility Specialist in Student Accessibility Support, will also join the discussion.

The conversational format is intended so that a space for dialogue and reflection can be proomoted.

Date: March 3 | Time: 2:30 p.m. | Location: Zinner Forum, Brandeis University

Learn more about Disability Day of Mourning 2026 events around the country.

The state of Kerala in India invited Dr. Mitra to present at two events this month. First, she presented at the National Institute of Speech and Hearing in Thiruvananthapuram on disability policy and health issues related to Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities in the U.S.

Then, she presented on a panel about disability-inclusive development at the International Conference on Development and Democracy.

The latest episode of upEND features Lurie Institute and National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities researcher Robyn Powell. Powell discusses how the child welfare system uses the idea of "predictive neglect" to perpetuate discriminatory practices against parents with disabilities, with particular stigma attached to parents with mental health issues.

Access the Podcast, What About Disabled Parents?