Professor Eric Emerson

Research Interests

Eric is Co-Director of the national specialist public health observatory for learning disabilities (www.ihal.org.uk).

He has been Professor of Disability and Health Research at the Division for Health Research since February 2000. He is also Professor of Disability Population Health at the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney. He is responsible for liaison between the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disability (IASSID) and the World Health Organization. Eric is an active disability researcher. He previously held appointments at the University of Manchester, University of Sydney, University of Kent at Canterbury and in a range of health care organisations in the UK and Canada.

His current research interests include understanding the social, cultural and economic bases of the health and social inequalities faced by disabled children, their families and adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Building resilience among and improving the physical and mental health of disabled children, their families and adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Policy and practice relating to disabled children, their families and adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Disability in low and middle income economies.

Additional Information

• Families in Context

  04/06/2007 → 31/05/2008
  This is a collaborative project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, with colleagues at the University of California at Riverside, University of Sydney and York University to use data from the UK's Mil ... Read more»

• Growing up with Disability in Australia

  01/03/2007 → 31/12/2008
  This is a collaborative project with colleagues at the University of Sydney that is using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to explore a range of issues related to young disabled ... Read more»

• SCIE Knowledge Review: Commissioning Person Centred Cost Effective Local Supports for People with Complex Needs

  10/01/2007 → 30/11/2007
  Concern has been expressed about the extent to which some people with learning difficulties are supported in 'out-of-area' placements. In response to this, SCIE have commissioned a consortium led from ... Read more»

• Analysis of data from the first national survey of adults with learning disabilities in England

  01/01/2006 →
  This Department of Health funded survey, undertaken by BMRB, the IHR and Central England People First, involved interviewing 3,000 adults with learning disabilities. It was the first national survey t ... Read more»

• Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) publishes reports on the Impact of Short Breaks on Families with Disabled Children

  25/03/2010
  The Department of Children, Schools and Families has published two reports produced by the Centre for Disability Research (CeDR) CeDR, in association with the National Development Team for Inclusion ... Read more»

• CeDR awarded contract to review the health and care needs of people with learning disabilities

  23/03/2010
  The Centre for Disability Research (CeDR) has been jointly commissioned with The North East Public Health Observatory (NEPHO) to improve the use and future collection of information on the health and ... Read more»

• New Department of Health Report published: Estimating future numbers of adults with profound multiple learning disabilities in England

  27/07/2009
  The Department of Health has published a new report 'Estimating future numbers of adults with profound multiple learning disabilities in England' written by Professor Eric Emerson of the Centre for Di ... Read more»

• Norwegian Bioethics and Disability Scholar Patrick Kermit joins CeDR as a visiting Research Fellow

  16/02/2009
  Patrick Kermit, a doctoral research fellow in medical technology and ethics (details below) at the Department of Social Work and Health Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (N ... Read more»

• CeDR joins Cumbria and Lancashire Local Academic Network of the Health Research Design Service NW

  22/07/2008
  Members of the CeDR group are part of the Cumbria and Lancashire Local Academic Network of the Health Research Design Service North West (HRDS NoW). The RDS is part of a national network of advisory s ... Read more»

• CeDR research on People with Learning Difficulties in England reported in The Guardian

  12/06/2008
  Recently published work by Professors Eric Emerson and Chris Hatton has received coverage in The Guardian which describes the authors as 'the country's top experts'.The report People with Learning Dis ... Read more»

• New Report available: The Impact of Person Centred Planning for People with Intellectual Disabilities

  11/09/2007
  A new report by Janet Robertson, Eric Emerson, Chris Hatton & Johan Elliott from the Institute for Health Research entitled 'The Impact of Person Centred Planning for People with Intellectual Disa ... Read more»