Dr. Kamal Lamichhane is a researcher at the research institute of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Tokyo. He did his postdoctoral work under the prestigious fellowship of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) of the Government of Japan for two years from April 2010. Dr. Lamichhane is also associated with the Barrier-Free Project (BFP) and Research on Economy and Disability (READ) of the University of Tokyo and is an affiliated researcher of research center for advanced science and technology (RCAST) of the same University. His interdisciplinary research focuses on identifying and remediating social and economic barriers for persons with disabilities. Using the primary data set on disability and labor market opportunities, his research laid the foundation for a new direction in considering disability issues from economic prospective. Dr. Lamichhane has written several peer reviewed articles on disability, education andemployment and received grants to study disability and economy. Dr. Lamichhane earned his Ph.D. on Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He is the first person with visual impairments in Nepal to receive the doctrate. Lamichhane earned his masters degree in special needs education at the University of Tsukuba in Japan and his bachelor’s degree in education from Tribhuvan University, in Nepal. He was fellow in-residence at Burton Blatt Institute (BBI), Syracuse University, USA in 2010. He was also the visiting researcher at the Norwegian Social Research Institute (NOVA), Norway in 2012. He has presented his papers in several international conferences held in Asia, North America and Europe. In 2011, Dr. Lamichhane presented his research findings at Worldbank and UnitedNations with the main focus on collaborating disability studies with economics. He has also extensively written in the news papers for the promotion of human rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities in the community.
