Alice Zhang Receives the 2015 Early Stage Graduate Award


April 8, 2016 - Congratulations to E (Alice) Zhang on receiving the 2015 Early Stage Graduate Award from the Friends of the Life Span Institute on April 8. Zhang is a graduate research assistant in the Research and Training Center on Independent living (RTC/IL) and a doctoral student in KU’s Department of Applied Behavioral Science.

She conducts her research under doctoral advisor Dr. Glen White, Director of the RTC/IL. Her recent master’s thesis focuses on how to increase parking opportunities for people with lift-equipped vans. The results of this study have been widely disseminated and will be published next year in the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community.

Zhang is currently working on a grant (KU News) to help people with disabilities learn advocacy skills through writing action letters and emails, and she is also involved on a project designed to address the health concerns of people with disabilities

Zhang said, “I envision my future studies will contribute to an empirical understanding of factors that enhance or limit the opportunity for people with disabilities to achieve full community participation in health, education, employment, and other life areas.”     

An international student from China, Zhang has published in Chinese peer-reviewed journals and presented seven research studies at national and regional conferences during her time as graduate student at KU.