Interdisciplinary Community Research on Disability
A collaborative partnership between the Shepherd Center’s Virginia C. Crawford Research Institute and Georgia State University’s Department of Sociology.
The Interdisciplinary Community Research on Disability Lab (iCORD) focuses on conducting research centered around a single guiding truth - disabled people should thrive in their communities.
Our Mission
The iCORD Lab brings together clinical researchers, university faculty, and student scholars to improve rehabilitation outcomes and community integration for disabled adults. By examining health equity through a Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) framework, we turn rigorous data into real-world policy and community solutions.
Core Research Priorities
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH):
Analyzing housing quality, poverty, and healthcare access barriers for disabled populations.
Knowledge Translation:
Converting academic research into actionable white papers, interactive dashboards, and policy briefs.
Applied Student Mentorship:
Training the next generation of sociologists through field school research, assistantships, and clinical internships.
A Georgia State and Shepherd Center Partnership
The iCORD Lab focuses on conducting research centered around a single guiding truth - disabled people should thrive in their communities.
As its guiding framework, the iCORD lab leverages the Social Determinants of Health model. This model provides a framework to investigate the relationships between disability, healthcare access, housing and the built environment, employment and poverty, education, neighborhoods, and communities.
Partnering with GSU, iCORD connects GSU students and faculty with researchers at Shepherd Center to conduct actionable research on disability.
Shepherd Center is a top-ranked, nationally recognized rehabilitation hospital located in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta with a focus on spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and neurological disorders.
Georgia State University is a Research 1 Doctoral Universities with very high research activity with hundreds of millions in annual research expenditures and awards. It is know for research in the areas of biomedical sciences, public health, cancer, brain health, and policy studies.
What People Are Saying
“This experience helped me envision a future as an applied sociologist and showed me that interdisciplinary, collaborative research is not just possible—it’s powerful. Witnessing the growth of my peers alongside my own made it clear that this partnership does not just help individuals thrive; it cultivates a community of scholars.”
— Madelief Tilder, iCORD Lab Research Associate and GSU Sociology BA/MA Student
“iCORD has centered on real questions about disability, housing, health, and community life, and it has steadily developed into a close-knit research community. Faculty, clinicians, biostatisticians, and students now work side by side to frame research questions, design studies, and interpret findings in ways that matter both academically and practically.”
— Dr. Eric Wright, GSU Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Distinguished University Professor of Sociology and Public Health
