Joann Starks, M.Ed., is a senior technical assistance consultant at American Institutes for Research (AIR). She has worked with the Center on Knowledge Translation for Employment Research (KTER) since 2010, and with the Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (KTDRR) since 2012. She also supports the Disability Subgroup of the Campbell Collaboration Education Coordinating Group, coordinates online training courses in topics such as assessing research evidence and conducting high-quality systematic reviews, and plans workshops, webcasts, and conferences on topics related to knowledge translation and disability and rehabilitation research.

Her expertise covers a broad range of issues and supports for individuals with disabilities, particularly equity and multicultural issues, and also including employment, independent living, special education services, and support for communities of practice. Additional highlights of her qualifications include knowledge translation, dissemination, and utilization; systematic reviews of disability and rehabilitation research; web accessibility; and copyright concerns. Starks previously was involved with research and dissemination activities of the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR, 1995-2011). She also participated in subcontract work with the Center on Knowledge Translation for Technology Transfer (SUNY-Buffalo) and the Transitions Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (University of Massachusetts Medical School).

In 2014, she earned the Knowledge Translation Professional Certificate through the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children. Her academic preparation includes coursework in special education and bilingual special education above the master’s degree level.