Leading international scholar of disability, marginality and global inequality. Currently Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing and Professor, School of Disability Studies, University of Toronto. Prior to this, based at the Institute for Culture and Society and the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. Research focus: intersectionality, including gender, disability, race and ethnicity and Indigeneity.
Karen has extensive expertise in collaborating directly with marginalised communities that experience poor health outcomes due to intensive social, emotional, cultural and economic inequality. Over the years, her unique empirical work has helped bridge numerous divides, resulting in diverse communities gaining more equitable access to disability, health and social service institutions across Australia, South Asia and South-East Asia. Her work is internationally renowned and impactful in informing global disability and inequality policy debates, advocacy and research.
Through numerous projects, she has built long-term partnerships across a wide range of organisations, from large multinational corporations like Microsoft UK to global policy institutes like NATO, the United Nations, and Minority Rights Group. Her collaborations also extend to smaller, precariously funded service providers, including Diversity Arts Australia, the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association, BlaQ Aboriginal Corporation, and the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence.