The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University’s Heller School leads research that helps shape policies, programs and practices which improve the lives of people with disabilities across the lifespan.

We partner with people with disabilities, community organizations, policymakers, and clinicians to produce research that addresses the critical issues that people with disabilities and their families face. This research incorporates qualitative and quantitative projects that are informed by the disability community and grounded in disability justice. Our research team includes established academic scholars, postdoctoral fellows, professional research staff, and student research assistants. We prioritize mentorship of the next generation of researchers.

What's Happening at the Lurie Institute

Monika Mitra, Director of the Lurie Institute, Interviewed for Mother Jones Magazine

Monika Mitra, Director of the Lurie Institute, quoted in Mother Jones magazineLurie Institute director Monika Mitra was interviewed for Julia Métraux's articles on eugenics, sterilization, and the pregnancy rights of disabled people.

“The narrative has to change,” Mitra said, “so that disabled people have the right to be pregnant, and the right to have children—and the right not to have children.”

Read "Forced Sterilization of Disabled People Isn't a Relic of the Past" and "Pregnancy Is a Minefield When You're Disabled."

Permission, Pleasure, and Power: Consent as the Foundation for Disability and Reproductive Justice: Announcing the Third Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellowship Keynote Event

Permission, Pleasure, and Power: Consent as the Foundation for Disability and Reproductive JusticeReproductive Justice and Disability Justice are deeply connected, and honoring that connection strengthens individuals and communities. Our third Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellow is Laura Millar, an independent consultant and the co-executive director of the Blind Sexuality Access Network. Laura's work is focused on how blind and disabled people are systematically denied access—not just to sexual healthcare or education, but also to autonomy, pleasure, relationships, and even basic conversations that should never have been out of reach in the first place.

Laura will speak in conversation with Rebecca Cokley of the Ford Foundation on "Permission, Pleasure, and Power: Consent as the Foundation for Disability and Reproductive Justice." Keynote event registration information coming soon!

Disability and Health Journal - Special Issue

Disability and Health Journal - Special Issue: At a GlanceThis special issue of the Disability and Health Journal is the first issue of this journal to focus specifically on community living policy. Edited by Joe Caldwell, Director of the Community Living Policy Center, and Ari Ne'eman, and containing articles by several Lurie Institute researchers, the supplement highlights the importance of careful policymaking and service provision to protect and advance the rights of people with disabilities and illustrates the crucial role research plays in advancing community living policy. The 13 articles in the issue cover a wide range of current issues and populations needing Long-Term Services and Supports, and they span four major themes in community living policy: housing and transportation supports; access to home- and community-based services (HCBS) and unmet needs; system design and delivery; and HCBS outcome measures. Find the full special issue on community living policy here.

Find the "at a glance" (summary version) of the special issue here.

Using the Disability Data Dashboards to Advance Policy and Advocacy

Using the Disability Data Dashboards to Advance Policy and AdvocacyThe Lurie Institute’s Disability Data Dashboards offer crucial information in easy-to-understand and accessible ways. The dashboards can serve as helpful, efficient, and time-saving tools for disability policy advocates across the United States. In this webinar, we discussed our two dashboards, the Parents with Disabilities Dashboard and the Community Living Dashboard, live demo-ing how they work, what information they show, and what the metrics mean.

Recording Coming Soon: Using the Disability Data Dashboards to Advance Policy & Advocacy

Our 2024 Annual Report is now available!

The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy is excited to share our annual report from this last year. The report highlights key research findings, our many dissemination products and resources, community outreach efforts, and much more from 2024. 

Read our 2024 Annual Report

Disability Research for a New Generation

Photo of Monika Mitra, Shoshana Finkel, Alanna Levy, Norma Stobbe, Monica Chen, Rachel Steinberg. Front row: Shira Levie, Judy Heumann, Max Tang. Text on picture reads "Disability Research for a New Generation"

The Lurie Undergraduate Fellowship offers opportunity to learn policy and create community.

For more than half a century, the Brandeis University community has championed the rights of people with disabilities, part of the school’s commitment to social justice.

READ THE FULL STORY

Current Featured Work

Webinar: Disaster Preparedness for Parents with Disabilities

Disabled people are often excluded from conversations about emergency preparedness. This includes parents with disabilities who need to keep themselves safe during a disaster as well as their children. Join Shari Myers and Melissa Marshall from the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies as we discuss emergency preparedness for disabled parents and their families.
NARRTC Best Research Paper Award - Finalist for 2025

Lurie Institute Scholars Named Finalists for Best Research Paper Award at NARRTC Conference

The paper, Outcomes of Person-Center Planning in Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services, is noted as being a crucial resource towards developing rehabilitation research and practice for the benefit of the disability community. 

View an accessible brief version of the paper on the Community Living Policy Center’s website.

A Perfect Turmoil: Walter E. Fernald and the Struggle to Care for America’s Disabled. Book Talk with Lurie Institute Visiting Scholar Alex Green

A Perfect Turmoil: Walter E. Fernald and the Struggle to Care for America’s Disabled. Book Talk with Lurie Institute Visiting Scholar Alex Green

In this webinar, Alex Green, who has spent a decade uncovering the hidden story of Walter E. Fernald, discusses Fernald's complex legacy. Watch the recording: https://youtu.be/kYR7o-t71yk

Video: A Summary of the Pregnancy Health Experiences of Black Deaf and Hard of Hearing Women in the United States. Signed by Cookie Brand and voice-over by Kaila Helm. National Center for Disability & Pregnancy Research logo. Lurie Institute logo.

Video: A Summary of the Pregnancy Health Experiences of Black Deaf and Hard of Hearing Women in the U.S.

In the United States, who you are and the resources you have can impact the quality of healthcare you receive. In this study, we talked to eight Black Deaf and Hard of Hearing women to learn about their pregnancy healthcare experience.
“People with disabilities, like everybody else, should have the supports to live and to thrive in their communities.”
—Monika Mitra, Director of the Lurie Institute