Elizabeth K.
Rasch, BS, MS, PhD
Senior Associate Scientist
Chief, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Section
301-402-1242
Dr. Elizabeth Rasch is a physical therapist and health services researcher with expertise in the conceptualization and measurement of disability. She conducts population-level disability research directed toward promoting the health and full participation of people with disabilities in family and community life by informing and impacting health services, programs and policies.
BS, University of Delaware
MS, University of Southern California
PhD, University of Maryland Baltimore
Dr. Rasch is a senior associate scientist and chief of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Section of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department at the NIH Clinical Center. She earned a bachelor of science degree in physical therapy from the University of Delaware, a master of science in physical therapy from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in rehabilitation science with a concentration in epidemiology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
A physical therapist for over 40 years, Dr. Rasch was one of the first clinical specialists in neurology to be board certified by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. From 2001 to 2007 she was a service fellow in the Office of Analysis and Epidemiology at the National Center for Health Statistics, CDC. During this time, she was actively involved in the Washington Group on Disability Statistics, an international group formed under the auspices of the UN Statistical Commission to develop comparable measures of disability suitable for censuses and surveys worldwide.
Dr. Rasch has been the chief of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Section in the Rehabilitation Medicine Department at the Clinical Center at NIH since 2007. In this role, she has supported major projects involving numerous collaborations with academic institutions, as well as other Federal agencies and currently oversees the work of over 20 scientists and fellows. She has been instrumental in directing a major collaboration with the Social Security Administration initiated in 2008 through an inter-agency agreement. As part of this work, NIH has worked collaboratively with scientists from several academic institutions to develop a comprehensive, self-reported functional assessment battery using item response theory and computer adaptive test methodology. In addition, she contributed to the development of a suite of tools using natural language processing to extract information on whole person functioning (i.e., activities) from the free text of medical records.
Dr. Rasch has co-authored over 60 articles. She is a former member of the editorial boards of Disability and Health Journal and Physical Therapy Journal.
- NIH Clinical Center CEO Award: Super Supervisor, 2023
- NIH Clinical Center CEO Award: RMD COVID Response Group, 2020
- NIH Office of the Director’s Honor Award; 6100 Building Closure Crisis Management Team
- First Annual Rene Jaheil Award for Excellence in Disability Research from Academy Health for poster co-authored by Reichard A, Gulley S, Rasch E, and Chan L., 2014
- NIH Clinical Center Director’s Award (Category: Science), 2011
- NIH Clinical Center Director’s Award (Category: Science), 2009
Henly M, McDonough CM, Porcino J, Peterik K, Rasch EK, Marfeo EE, Houtenville AJ, Brucker DL. "Linking job duties, functioning, and employment status using the Work-Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB): An expert coding and quantitative analysis," Work. 2022 Sept 9, doi:10.3233/WOR-211169
Goldman HH, Porcino J, Divita G, Zirikly A, Desmet B, Sacco M, Marfeo E, McDonough C, Rasch E, Chan L. "Informatics Research on Mental Health Functioning: Decision Support for the Social Security Administration Disability Program," Psychiatry Services. 2023 Jan 1; 74(1):56-62. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202200056. Epub 2022 Jun 2
Desmet B, Porcino P, Zirikly A, Newman-Griffis D, Divita G, Rasch E, "Development of Natural Language Processing Tools to Support Determination of Federal Disability Benefits in the U.S.," LREC 2020 Workshop, LT4Gov
Thieu T, Maldonado JC, Ho P-S, Ding M, Marr A, Brandt D, Newman-Griffis D, Zirikly A, Chan L, Rasch E. "A comprehensive study of mobility functioning information in clinical notes: entity hierarchy, corpus annotation, and sequence labeling," International Journal of Medical Informatics. 2021 Mar; 147:104351
Newman-Griffis D, Porcino P, Zirikly A, Thieu T, Camacho Maldonado J, Ho P, Ding M, Chan L, Rasch EK. "Broadening horizons: the case for capturing function and the role of health informatics in its use," BMC Public Health. 2019 Oct 15; 19(1):1288
Jette AM, Ni P, Rasch E, Marfeo E, McDonough C, Brandt D, Kasiz L, Chan L. "The Work Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB)," Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America. 2019 Aug; 30(3):561-572
Meterko M, Marino M, Ni P, Marfeo E, McDonough C, Jette A, Peterik K, Rasch E, Brandt D, Chan L. "Psychometric Evaluation of the Improved Work-Disability Functional Assessment Battery," Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2019 Aug; 100(8): 1442-1449
Gulley S, Rasch EK, Altman BM, Bethell CD, Carle AC, Druss BG, Houtrow AJ, Reichard A, Chan L: Introducing the Adults with Chronic Healthcare Needs (ACHCN) definition and screening instrument: Rationale, supporting evidence and testing. Disability and Health Journal, 2018; 11(2):204-213
Gulley S, Rasch EK, Bethell CD, Carle AC, Druss BG, Houtrow AJ, Reichard A, Chan L. "At the intersection of chronic disease, disability and health services research: A scoping literature review," Disability and Health Journal. 2018; 11(2):192-203
Marfeo EE, Ni P, McDonough C, Peterik K, Marino M, Meterko M, Rasch EK, Chan L, Brandt D, Jette AM. "Improving assessment of work-related mental health function using the Work Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB)," Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 2018 Mar; 28(1):190-199
McDonough CM, Ni P, Peterik K, Marfeo E, Marino M, Meterko M, Rasch EK, Brandt D, Jette AM, Chan L. "Improving measures of work-related physical functioning," Quality of Life Research. 2017 Mar; 26(3):789-798
Altman BM, Rasch EK. "Purpose of an International Comparable Census Disability Measure," Research in Social Science and Disability. 2016; 61:55-68
Reichard A, Gulley SP, Rasch EK, Chan L. "Diagnosis isn't enough: Understanding the connections between high-end health care use, chronic conditions, and disabilities among U.S. working age adults," Disability and Health Journal. 2015; 8(4):535-46
Marfeo EE, Ni P, Chan L, Rasch EK, McDonough CM, Brandt DE, Bogusz K, Jette AM. "Interpreting Physical and Behavioral Health Scores from new work disability instruments," Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. 2015; 47(5):394-402
Marfeo EE, Eisen S, Ni P, Rasch EK, Rogers ES, Jette A. "Do Claimants Over-report Behavioral Health Dysfunction when Filing for SSA Disability Benefits?" Work. 2015;51(2):187-94
Rasch EK, Huynh M, Ho P-S, Heuser A, Houtenville A, Chan L. "First in line: Prioritizing receipt of Social Security disability benefits based on likelihood of death during adjudication," Medical Care. 2014; 52: 944–950
Gulley S, Rasch EK, Chan L: "Difference, Disability, Disparity: A comparison of health, insurance coverage and health service use on the basis of race/ethnicity among U.S. adults with disabilities, 2006-2008," Medical Care. 2014 Oct; 52 (Suppl 3):S9-S16
Marfeo EE, Ni P, Haley SM, Jette AM, Bogusz K, Meterko M, McDonough CM, Chan L, Brandt DE, Rasch EK. "Development of an instrument to measure behavioral health function for work disability: Item pool construction and factor analysis," Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2013; 94(9):1670-1678
Marfeo EE, Haley SM, Jette AM, Eisen SV, Ni P, Bogusz K, Meterko M, McDonough CM, Chan L, Brandt DE, Rasch EK. "A conceptual foundation for measures of physical function and behavioral health function for social security work disability evaluation," Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2013; 94(9):1645-1652
Ni P, McDonough CM, Jette AM, Bogusz K, Marfeo EE, Rasch EK, Brandt DE, Meterko M, Haley SM, Chan L. "Development of a computer-adaptive physical function instrument for social security administration disability determination," Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2013; 94(9):1661-1669
McDonough CM, Jette AM, Ni P, Bogusz K, Marfeo EE, Brandt DE, Chan L, Meterko M, Haley SM, Rasch EK. "Development of a self-report physical function instrument for disability assessment: Item pool construction and factor analysis," Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2013; 94(9):1653-1660
Chan L, Sandel ME, Jette A, Appelman J, Brandt DE, Cheng P, TeSelle M, Delmonico R, Terdiman J, Rasch E. "Does Post-Acute Care Site Matter? A longitudinal study assessing functional recovery after a stroke," Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2013 Apr; 94(4):622-9
Rasch EK, Gulley S, Chan L. "Use of Emergency Departments among Working Age Adults with Disabilities: A problem of access and service needs," Health Services Research. 2013 Aug; 48(4):1334-58
Brandt DE, Houtenville AJ, Huynh M, Chan L, Rasch EK. Connecting Contemporary Paradigms to Social Security Administration’s Disability Evaluation Process. Journal of Disability Policy Studies 22(2):116-128, 2011
Gulley S, Rasch EK, Chan L. "The Complex Web of Health: Relationships between Chronic Conditions, Disability, and Health Services," Public Health Reports. 126(4):495-507, 2011
Gulley S, Rasch EK, Chan L. "If we build it, who will come? Working age adults with chronic health care needs and the medical home," Medical Care. 49(2):149-55, 2011
Gulley S, Rasch EK, Chan L. "Ongoing coverage for ongoing care: Access, utilization and out of pocket spending burden among uninsured working aged adults with chronic conditions and disabilities in the United States," American Journal of Public Health. 101(2):368-75, 2011
Rasch EK, Magder L, Hochberg MC, Magaziner J, Altman BM. "Health of Community Dwelling Adults with Mobility Limitations in the United States: Incidence of Secondary Health Conditions," Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 89(2):219-30, 2008
Rasch EK, Hochberg MC, Magder L, Magaziner J, Altman BM. "Health of Community Dwelling Adults with Mobility Limitations in the United States: Prevalent Health Conditions," Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 89(2):210-8, 2008
Rasch EK, Altman BM, Madans JH. "The impact of assistive device use on disability measurement," (International Views on Disability Measures: Moving Toward Comparative Measurement), Research in Social Science and Disability. 4:247-262, 2006