Meghan Burke, PhD, BCBA-D

Meghan Burke, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Special Education. Her research interests include parent advocacy, families (i.e., parents and siblings) of individuals with significant disabilities, and disability policy. Her research examines how parents advocate for services for their offspring with disabilities. Additionally, Prof. Burke conducts research examining how siblings of individuals with disabilities transition to caregiving roles.

Tell us briefly about your recent research project.
In this project, we are adapting and testing a parent advocacy program for Latinx families of transition-aged youth with autism. The purpose of the program is to educate and empower Latinx families to learn about disability services so their youth can access needed services. We are adapting the measures and curriculum for the program. Then, we are conducting a randomized controlled trial to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of the program.

Why did you decide to use BERD services for this project?
For the project, we needed the expertise of a biostatistician to help conduct appropriate analyses for the project. BERD was perfect to fulfill this role.

In what ways did the BERD team assist you in receiving external funding?
Prior to submitting the grant, BERD met with us to discuss the proposed analyses and needed sample size for the project. BERD drafted the language that we included in the grant to explain and justify our data analysis plan.

What advice do you have for Illinois faculty and staff who may be interested in BERD services?
Reach out to BERD as you start brainstorming your ideas! It can be so helpful to meet with BERD early in the grant-writing process.