COURSE

IC25: NIH Toolbox: Innovative Assessments for Rehab Practice and Research: Presentation >>

BIO

Pamela Kisala, MA, has been an Associate Scientist at the University of Delaware Center for Health Assessment Research and Translation (CHART) since it was founded in 2014. She works primarily on the validation and clinical application of the Spinal Cord Injury – Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) and Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) measurement systems, both of which she co-developed with CHART director Dr. David Tulsky. Prior to her current position, Ms. Kisala worked closely with Dr. Tulsky at the New York University Langone Medical Center/Rusk Rehabilitation (2013-2014), the University of Michigan, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (2010-2013) and the Kessler Foundation (2006-2010). 

Ms. Kisala has expertise in patient reported outcomes measurement (including assessment of health-related quality of life) in rehabilitation populations. Her research interests include the use of item response theory and other psychometric techniques to improve patient reported outcomes measurement, use of participatory action research and grounded-theory based qualitative techniques to inform outcomes measure development, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to outcomes measure development, improving outcomes measurement in individuals with disabilities, including spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, and psychosocial adjustment following traumatic injury. She is currently the principal investigator of two foundation-funded studies (Rick Hansen Institute and Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, respectively) to develop clinically relevant scoring standards for the SCI-QOL item banks. 

Ms. Kisala obtained her B.A. in Psychology with Highest Honors from Rutgers University – Newark College of Arts and Sciences and her M.A. in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences from the Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.