Fabricio Balcazar, PhD
Professor
Center Director, Advocacy & Empowerment
Phone 312-4131646
Fax 312-413-1804
Email Fabricio@uic.edu
Office 451B IIDD
Bio
Fabricio E. Balcazar , Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Balcazar's primary research interest is in developing effective strategies for enhancing consumer empowerment and personal effectiveness among individuals with disabilities. Dr. Balcazar has conducted research over the past 25 years on several disability-related areas, such as the development of systematic approaches for the effective involvement of people with disabilities in consumer advocacy organizations; the development of interventions to help minority students with disabilities transition into employment and career development; and the promotion of cultural competence in rehabilitation services, among others. Dr. Balcazar is currently the director of the Center on Capacity Building for Minorities with Disabilities Research and as such, he has lead the development of a cultural competence conceptual framework, training curriculum and assessment instrument, conducting multiple workshops on this topic and providing TA to multiple organizations. Dr. Balcazar has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and recently co-edited a book entitled Race, culture and disability: Issues in Rehabilitation Research and Practice. Dr. Balcazar is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.
Research Interests
Advocacy, empowerment and minorities with disabilities
Teaching Interests
Advocacy and empowerment for people with disabilities; cultural competence and participatory research methods.