Rune J. Simeonsson, PhD, MSPH is a psychologist with appointments as professor of education and fellow at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His academic background and research interests reflect the intersection of child development, special education and public health, focusing on the development of children and youth with chronic conditions and disabilities. He is author and co-author of 7 books and more than 180 publications related to assessment and classification of child functioning and development and physical and social ecologies as they relate to children’s health, education and well-being. He has previous grant funding from the U.S Department of Education and the Centers for Disease Control and was co-principal investigator of a transatlantic consortium of 3 European and 3 US universities funded by the European Union and the U.S. Department of Education on global issues in education and development. From 1995-2001 he served as co-chair of the children’s task force in the development of WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health-ICF. From 2001-2007 he chaired the WHO work group in the development of ICF version for children and youth ICF-CY. His research includes development of instruments to assess children’s functioning and environments and evaluation studies of their on their activities and participation. He is actively engaged in consultation with UNICEF and in international work in Asia and Europe related disability policy in services for children and adults.
