DJ McMaughan

I'm a Professor of Public Health and Director of the Disability and Wellness Research Collaborative (DWRC). My research starts from lived experience and community priorities, especially where they intersect with structural inequities. 

In  the DWRC we use statistical methods to study patterns of exclusion and disparity, and we view data as a tool for change, rather than surveillance. The DWRC draws on transformative research paradigms, with intersectionality informing how we design studies and reflexivity driving how we interpret results. Partnerships with disabled people and community organizations run through every stage of the work. They guide which questions we ask, inform how we read our findings, and determine how we get results back to the community.

We also train the next generation of scholars. That means treating lived experience as core to good research rather than an add-on, and pushing students to use data for the good of society. We are currently accepting students.

Research interests:

• Structural inequities in access to health and social care for disabled and neurodivergent people
• Statistical and participatory methods for justice-oriented public health research
• Social inclusion and relationships as health-promoting factors
• Autism, neurodivergence, and intersecting marginalized identities
• Housing, employment, and other social drivers of health for disabled people