Brad Duerstock, PhD

Brad Duerstock serves as RERC Co-Director and oversees RERC activities at Purdue. Dr. Duerstock is a Professor of Practice in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University with courtesy appointments in the Dept. of Basic Medical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Dept. of Health and Kinesiology in the College of Health and Human Sciences. Duerstock is the director of the Institute for Accessible Science (IAS). The IAS was established through the NIH Director’s Pathfinder Award he received to advance the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the scientific workforce. In 2022 he co-led a team that won the $1 million 1st prize for the US DOT Inclusive Design Challenge for the development of accessible autonomous vehicles for persons with disabilities. Dr. Duerstock is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and power wheelchair user due to a cervical spinal cord injury. He serves as the project leader on R4 and a team member on D3, T1, and T2.