Frances Harris, PhD. is a medical anthropologist who joined the College of Design in 2004.  She has expertise in qualitative research methods and studies using a mixed methods research design.  Previously, she led a cost outcomes study of seating and mobility interventions in an acute rehabilitation hospital in New York and later examined the activity and participation outcomes of wheeled mobility interventions at Shepherd Center in Atlanta. 

More recently her focus has been on defining and assessing participation outcomes in the workplace.  She led a team to develop a self-report instrument that assessed the impact of environmental features on the employment outcomes of people with disabilities in office settings. Currently, she is co-principal investigator of a study investigating contingent employment practices among people with disabilities.  She holds a PhD from the New School for Social Research in New York.