PEAPACK — The director of the Matheny Medical and Educational Center’s Research Institute in Developmental Disabilities, Dr. Kenneth Robey, a resident of Dayton, has been selected as part of an elite group of scholars in the Fulbright Specialists Roster, according to a press release.
The roster is a national program, which places leaders from higher education and industry in global collaborations that strengthen the positions of U.S. institutions, according to the release.
As a Fulbright Specialists Roster candidate, Dr. Robey is eligible for consideration and selection for two-to-six-week grant opportunities through the program, and he will remain a candidate for five years until he is matched with a request from an overseas host institution .
According to the release, the Matheny Medical and Educational Center is a special hospital and educational facility here for children and adults with developmental disabilities.
The institute has as its singular mission the research and dissemination of findings that might enhance the lives of those with severe disabilities, their families and the professionals who work with them, according to the release.
By conducting research and disseminating its findings, the institute strives to support and contribute to the knowledge base and repertoire of the field of disability treatment and habilitation, the release said.
Over the past couple of years, Dr. Robey has been working with a national consortium of health care faculty members who share his interest in the “disability identity” and in medical professionals’ attitudes that might impact on services or care provided to persons with disabilities.
The consortium was formalized as the Alliance for Disability in Health Care Education. Dr. Robey is a member of the board of directors and is a past president, according to the release.
In addition to his role at Matheny, Dr. Robey is on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Medicine and Dentistry – New Jersey Medical School and has taught undergraduate courses on an adjunct basis at Rutgers University, Centenary College and Montclair State University. He has a Ph.D. in social psychology from Rutgers University.

