Dr. Lefki Kourea, Scientist-in Charge

Lefki Kourea is a Fulbright Scholar and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow in special/inclusive education and applied behavior analysis. Dr. Kourea completed undergraduate studies in elementary education in Cyprus (University of Cyprus) and graduate studies in special education in USA (The Ohio State University). Her research interests include mixed-method methodology, experimental research, evidence-based academic and behavioral interventions, and instructional design tailored for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Dr. Kourea's current work focuses on the development of a culturally responsive school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports model within American and European school settings. Dr. Kourea has presented her research work in local and international scientific conferences and has delivered a number of seminars to parents and in-service teachers over the last decade. She has published her work in peerreviewed journals and chapter books.

For further information about Dr. Kourea, click here. 

Dr. Bob Algozzine, Research Collaborator

Bob Algozzine is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte., U.S.A. He completed his graduated studies in special education (The Pennsylvania State University). Dr. Algozzine is listed as a highly cited researcher in the ISI Web of Knowledge database [ISIHighlyCited.com], which highlights the top 250 preeminent individual researchers in each of 21 subject categories who have demonstrated great influence in their field as measured by citations to their work. Dr. Algozzine is widely known for his writing on effective assessment and teaching practices in the area of behavior disorders and critical issues in the field of special education. He has more than 400 professional publications. He is currently coeditor of Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, The Journal of Special Education, and Multicultural Learning and Teaching. He has been a featured speaker at local, state, national, and international professional conferences and has conducted professional development workshops for general and special education teachers across the country. On recent and related research and evaluation projects, Dr. Algozzine has studied problem-solving, decisionmaking, and outcomes associated with implementing a three-tiered prevention/intervention model as well as large-scale professional development models for early childhood educators. He has over 30 years of experience teaching research and evaluation courses and has provided advice and assistance to more than 200 students in advanced degree programs.

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Dr. Ya-yu Lo, Research Collaborator

Ya-yu Lo is a professor of special education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, U.S.A. Dr. Lo completed her undergraduate studies in social work in Tawain (Soochow University) and graduate studies in special education and applied behavior analysis in USA (The Ohio State University). Her research expertise includes applied behavior analysis, functional assessment and positive behavior support, effective academic and behavioral interventions for culturally and linguistically diverse learners, and single case research. She has accumulated over $2.5 million of funding (as principal investigator or coinvestigator) and 44 publications. Dr. Lo's leadership roles include being the Managing Editor of The Journal of Special Education (2006-present), an associate editor of the Education & Treatment of Children (2013-present), as well as being a Past President of the North Carolina Association for Behavior Analysis (2010-2011) and the Chinese American Educational Research and Development Association (2010-2012).

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Dr. Helen Phtiaka, Research Coordinator

Helen Phtiaka is an associate professor of Sociology in Education and Inclusive Education at the University of Cyprus. Dr. Phtiaka completed undergraduate studies in History and Archaeology in Greece (University of Athens) and graduate studies in Psychology and Sociology in the United Kingdom (Universities of Stirling and Cambridge). Her research interests include inclusive education and society, equal opportunities, history, philosophy, legislation and policy of special and inclusive education, home-school relations, and qualitative methodology. Dr. Phtiaka's work has broken new ground in the area of special education and has set the relevant educational policy and research agenda in Cyprus for the last 20 years.

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