Dr. Deana McDonagh

Director of Serious Fun

Deana is Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (USA), founder of the (dis)Ability Design Studio at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Health Innovation Professor at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Internationally recognized for her pioneering contributions to empathic design, she develops approaches that help designers, healthcare professionals, and innovators understand and apply lived experience as a catalyst for meaningful change.

Her research focuses on empathy as both a mindset and a skill, advancing empathic modeling, disability-centered design, healthcare innovation, and co-design practices that move beyond designing for people to designing by people. By translating authentic human experiences into actionable design insights, her work promotes emotional sustainability, wellbeing, inclusion, and patient-inspired innovation across products, services, healthcare systems, and the built environment.

Dr. McDonagh's profile

Carle Illinois College of Medicine

Personalized Nutrition Institute

Vice President of the European Academy of Design

School of Art and Design

Dr. Susann Heft Sears

Director of Enriching Life Experiences

Dr. Sears is the Assistant Director of Academic Services with the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES). The mission is to ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from the programs, services, and activities of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign through the identification and enactment of reasonable modifications to institutional policies and procedures, the provision of effective auxiliary aids and services,and  the establishment of innovative educational services. Her research interests include investigating the career readiness levels, student engagement outcomes, and residential needs of college students with disabilities.  

Dr. Sears' profile