Our Team

Nicole Thompson, MPH - Director of Operations and Consumer Insights Strategist

Nicole primarily directs the operations of the AURC and leads the collaboration efforts of Microsoft product teams as they design new studies to gain consumer feedback. She frequently recruits AURC members to participate in these studies that promote inclusive design and document user experiences so that accessibility improvements may be made in new technology. Nicole is a public health professional and one of the lead Research Program Managers at Shepherd Center. She graduated from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health with an MPH with a focus in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education. Her academic background in qualitative and quantitative research methods, along with more than 17 years of experience in clinical research (i.e., Acquired Brain Injury, independent living, and behavioral informatics) has led to her success in accessibility research. Nicole has published widely and presented at national conferences on brain injury and technology and disability.

John Morris, PhD, FACRM - Director

John is a senior clinical research scientist at Shepherd Center and project director for several grant funded research and development projects on assistive technology, accessibility and user experience. From 2008-2015, John led the ongoing development of the national Consumer Advisory Network (CAN) and cornerstone Survey of User Needs (SUN) projects for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies, which provided the model for the Accessibility User Research Collective (AURC). John earned his doctorate degree in political science at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a user-experience and user-needs research professional with over 30 publications and presentations on disability and technology. Before joining Shepherd Center, John worked for Oracle Corporation as senior product development manager. In collaboration with the rest of the team, John leads the AURC’s overall direction and long-term planning.

Read Anderson, PhD - Project Manager and Senior Consumer Insights Analyst

Raeda is a Research Scientist at Shepherd Center where she also serves as project director for several NIDILRR funded grants on technology and disability. Raeda is an applied sociologist, demographer, and survey methodologist. She earned her PhD in Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to working at Shepherd Center, Raeda was an assistant professor and Quantitative Data Specialist at Georgia State University. Dr. Anderson has extensive experience conducting quantitative and qualitative research, and publishing and presenting at national conferences on disability, inclusion, social interaction and mental health. Raeda leads research design and data analysis, and she manages engagement with Microsoft product teams and consumers.

Ben Lippincott - Project Manager and Consumer Engagement Strategist

Ben is a research project coordinator at Shepherd Center. He is currently Project Director of the for the LiveWell App Factory project on user experience mobile application research and is the project director for the LiveWell RERC’s Consumer and Industry Outreach, Education & Support project. He has worked in assistive/accessible technology and user needs research for more than 15 years. Since 2011, Ben has been disability/accessibility advisor on AT&T’s Advisory Panel on Access and Aging. Prior to working at Shepherd Center, Ben worked as a hardware product representative for IBM. Ben has published and presented at national conferences on assistive technology and accessibility. Ben manages AURC projects and engagement with Microsoft project teams.

Sarah Mosely, MSP, CCC-SLP, ATP - Project Manager and Consumer Engagement Strategist

Sarah is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Assistive Technology Professional, with over a decade of experience as a clinician in Shepherd Center’s inpatient Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) program and Assistive Technology Center. Sarah has worked on AT programs at Shepherd Center for physical and cognitive access to consumer technology, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), accessible e-Gaming, home automation and control, as well as low-tech accessibility solutions. Sarah manages AURC projects and engagement with Microsoft project teams. He also co-leads the AURC’s consumer outreach program.