Lecturer in Premodern History, University of Leeds For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the history of the body. As a child, I was captivated by Mary Dobson’s descriptions of ancient Egyptian perfumes and hair care techniques in her ‘Scratch and Sniff’ book series. I was similarly delighted (and terrified) when, at eight years old, I got to meet a ‘real’ medieval surgeon at the York Dungeons! Increasingly preoccupied with the body as a construct reconceptualised over time, I decided to pursue history as a career. As such, I completed my BA in History (2014), my MA in Medieval Studies (2015) and my PhD in Medieval Disability Studies (2020) at the University of Leeds. Throughout my doctoral research I investigated the practical ways in which fifteenth- and sixteenth-century disability aids were designed, constructed, and sold; whilst also considering how contemporaries conceptualised bodily augmentation and the day-to-day use of assistive devices. After finishing my PhD at the University of Leeds, I spent two years teaching History and Heritage Studies at Aberystwyth University, Wales, during which time I was simultaneously employed as the Jaipreet Virdi Fellow for Disability Studies at the Medical Heritage Library. Throughout my fellowship, I developed three curated collections on Ocular Aids, Hearing Aids, and Dental Technologies. In 2022, I was appointed as Lecturer in Inclusive Learning for the Schools of History and English at the University of Leeds. As a woman from a working-class background and the first in my family to attend university, I am deeply committed to extending and improving inclusivity practices and thinking critically about how the student experience can be improved for students from traditionally marginalised backgrounds within academia.
Professor of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa I teach disability rights and labour law. I am interested in globalization and have coauthored many books about disability rights and disability history.
Professor of Statistics, Swansea University Rhiannon Owen is Professor of Statistics at Swansea University Medical School and Co-Director of the Population Data Science Research Institute at Swansea University. Her main research interests are in the development, evaluation, and application of statistical methods for evidence synthesis of diverse data sources, analysis of population-level linked electronic health records, health technology assessment and service evaluation, in order to inform health-care policy and improvement. This work has been and is supported by the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS), Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW), Health Data Research UK (HDRUK), the Medical Research Council (MRC), and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In 2021, Rhiannon was awarded a prestigious Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard Fellowship to develop statistical methods to improve the diagnosis and care of hospitalised patients with COVID- 19. Rhiannon is a member of the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Technology Appraisal Committee, member of the NICE Decision Support Unit, and Associate Member of the NICE Technical Support Unit. She has extensive experience of cross-sector collaboration including as a consultant, providing methodological and strategic advice to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry nationally and internationally.
Associate Professor for Tourism and Event Management, MCI Management Center Innsbruck I am Associate Professor for Tourism and Event Management at the Mangement Center Innsbruck, Austria. My PhD investigated knowledge management and knowledge practices within festival organisations, a topic I have widely published on over the last decade. Other research interests and areas of expertise include knowledge management, community events and festivals, power and empowerment, events and wellbeing/quality-of-life.
Professor of Psychology, University of St. Thomas Prof. J. Roxanne Prichard is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. She studies sleep health in college students as it relates to performance, mental health and retention. Her scholarship has been cited in the New York Times, Scientific American, Wall Street Journal, and The 1A radio program. She served on the NCAA Taskforce for Sleep and Wellbeing and her TEDx talk "Addressing Our Children's Sleep Debt" was featured on the Transforming Education series. She regularly consults with college athletics programs and other organizations to help people harness the power of sleep for improved health and performance.
