American Institutes for Research

Kathleen M. Murphy is a principal researcher at AIR. Dr. Murphy’s research activity has involved qualitative and mixed methods in homes, schools, and online environments in the U.S. and Mexico, and has been supported by foundations and federal and state agencies.

Currently, Dr. Murphy is principal investigator for AIR’s Center on Knowledge Translation for Employment Research and Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, both funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). In these capacities, she leads a broad set of research, development, training, technical assistance, and evaluation activities about knowledge translation among policymakers, the business community, vocational rehabilitation professionals, and people with disabilities. She also directs a research portfolio of surveys and training related to cancer and employment in collaboration with the Southwest Americans with Disabilities Act (SWADA) Center. She is second author of Behavioral, psychological, educational, and vocational interventions to facilitate employment outcomes for cancer survivors: A systematic review published in the Campbell Collaboration Library. She was vice president of NARRTC (formerly known as the National Association of Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers) from 2016-2017.

Murphy has been an assistant research professor at Baylor University and a visiting assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame. She has published peer-reviewed journal articles and book reviews, written several technical reports, and serves as a peer reviewer for BMC Public Health and WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation. Dr. Murphy was an I.I.E. Fulbright Scholar at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, and a Rotary International Scholar at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.