KTER Today Volume 1, Issue 4

September 16^th Webinar: Using Employer Engagement Insights to Strengthen Knowledge Translation

Join KTER on Wednesday, September 16, from 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET for a webinar exploring how employer engagement research can strengthen knowledge translation and workforce outcomes. Dr. Kathy Sheppard-Jones and Christina Forster from the Training Innovation Project, which is funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, will present. They will share findings from a national training needs assessment of vocational rehabilitation and workforce professionals, highlighting what employers and workforce partners need, preferred learning approaches, and how these insights can help researchers develop more relevant dissemination products and technical assistance. This webinar has received pre-approval for 1.0 hour Continuing Education Unit (CEU) for Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRCs).

Webinar Archive: Building Knowledge Translation Capacity Through Business Relationships

Missed KTER’s August 5 webinar, “Building Knowledge Translation Capacity Through Business Relationships?” The recording is now available!

The discussion explored how researchers can build meaningful partnerships with businesses to strengthen knowledge translation and disability employment research. Panelists shared strategies for engaging employers, building trust, navigating organizational structures, and using business insights to develop more relevant research, dissemination products, and implementation strategies.

The panel featured representatives from Livingston Educational Service Agency, Kuehne + Nagel, and Morley Companies, along with KTER Center Business Advisory Council member Sriram Narayanan of Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business.

Registration Open for KTDRR’s 2026 Virtual KT Conference

Registration is now open for the 2026 Virtual Knowledge Translation Conference: Evolution in Knowledge Translation, hosted by the Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (KTDRR).

Taking place October 19, 20, and 22 from 1–5 p.m. ET, the conference will explore how knowledge translation evolves across audiences, settings, and stages of the research process. Sessions will highlight diverse approaches to KT—from planning and implementation to evaluation, sustainability, and scalability—and share practical strategies for moving research into practice. KTDRR is grateful to members of its Disability Expert Review Panel who helped to develop the theme and reviewed the conference programming.

The conference is fully virtual and free to attend, and up to 9.5 CRC-CEUs are available.

Submit a proposal to the 2027 ARRPE Conference

The Association for Rehabilitation, Research, Policy and Education is seeking submissions for the 2027 ARRPE Conference in Savannah, Georgia. Presentations should focus on topics related to current developments related to rehabilitation research, policy and education. Learn more about proposal guidelines and requirements on the call for proposals webpage.

The deadline for proposals for the 2027 ARRPE Conference is Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.

Research Participants Needed: Reasonable Accommodations in the Workplace

Researchers at the University of Washington are seeking participants for a study examining ways to help people with disabilities navigate the process of requesting reasonable accommodations in the workplace. The fully online study is open to adults with disabilities across the United States who are 18 or older, currently employed or actively seeking a job, need a workplace accommodation, and read and speak English. Participants will complete a pre-survey, review educational materials about requesting accommodations, and complete a post-survey. Some participants may also be invited to take part in a follow-up interview. This study is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (90DPAD0004-05-02). Interested in participating or learning more? Email ra2026@uw.edu.

Publishing Opportunity

NIDILRR employment grantee Dr. Ni Gao is serving as Guest Editor for a Special Issue of Behavioral Sciences titled “Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Supported Employment, and Behavioral Outcomes.” Manuscripts may be submitted at any time, with a final submission deadline of December 15, 2026.

Behavioral Sciences, in which the special issue will be published, has been listed in reputable databases such as SSCI (Impact Factor: 2.5), Scopus (CiteScore 3.1), and PubMed. The journal is fully open access. Manuscripts are peer-reviewed, and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 28.7 days after submission. An Article Processing Charge (APC) of 2200 CHF currently applies to all papers accepted after peer review. You may be entitled to a discount if you have previously received a discount code from the Editorial Office or if your institution is a participating member in MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). For more information, please visit: http://www.mdpi.com/about/ioap.

For further information on manuscript submission and the peer review process, please refer to the following Special Issue webpage: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/behavsci/special_issues/4473OTFKCX

Business & Workforce Insights

Welcome to KTER’s Business Advisory Council, Alana Anderson! KTER is pleased to welcome Alana Anderson, Director of Transition Services and Job Attainment at Livingston Educational Service Agency, as the newest member of the KTER Business Advisory Council.

KTER Project Director Murphy a Disability:IN 2026 Panelist

Disability:IN invited KTER Project Director Kathleen Murphy to kick off the panel “The Trillion-Dollar Consumer Opportunity” at its annual conference in Dallas, Texas, on July 28th. She discussed the significant economic influence of consumers with disabilities, drawing on data from the new report, Unlocking the Purchasing Power of People with Disabilities, produced by Disability:IN in partnership with the American Institutes for Research. Wade Balmer, Senior Manager of Internal Communications and Community of The North Face, and Bulbul Khera of Nike, Senior Director of Business, Purpose, and SFS followed Murphy’s presentation, discussing opportunities for businesses to use the data to understand and serve this market better. Ken Bigler, Head of Accessibility Engineering at Intuit moderated. Learn more by exploring the new report, Unlocking the Purchasing Power of People with Disabilities.

READ THE REPORT