Disability and Health Senior Researcher
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Katherine D. Goss, MPH currently works as a Disability and Health Senior Researcher with the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Ms. Goss manages the Disability and Health Research (DHR) Team, which employs a variety of research methodologies to better understand healthcare experiences and disparities among people with disability (PWD). As an Instructor with the Department of PMR, she also contributes to resident and medical student educational initiatives, focusing on the importance of critical appraisal of research and health information related to caring for PWD.
Recently, Ms. Goss and the DHR team have focused on differences in health outcomes among PWD following diagnosis of COVID-19, highlighting adverse outcomes of people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Other lines of research include differences in outcomes following trauma care for patients with pre-existing disability, opioid use and pain experiences among PWD, and reproductive health experiences among women with functional limitation. Ms. Goss also works closely with SUNY Upstate PMR clinical staff on departmental quality improvement projects and facilitates a monthly journal club with PMR residents focused on research methodology. Ms. Goss coordinates the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Summer Experience (PMR-SE), an eight-week clinical externship and educational program for rising second year medical students. The PMR-SE program offers students exposure to rehabilitative medicine and considerations when caring for PWD, as well as guided research experience. Ms. Goss has also been involved in the creation, organization, and dissemination of the Disability Integration Toolkit (DIT). Through collaboration with the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) and partners at several academic institutions, the DIT provides active learning tools and other educational activities in an effort to promote the integration of disability-specific content in medical school curriculum.
