The American Spinal Injury Association
VA
Marcalee Alexander, MD is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and past president of The American Spinal Injury Association.. She is also founder and president of Sustain Our Abilities, whose mission is to educate people about climate change, disability and health and the founder of the Graham (Green Route Aiding Healthy Adaptation and Mitigation) project in which she walked and biked from Canada to Key West Florida. She previously served as the Editor-In-Chief of Spinal Cord Series and Cases and is currently Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Climate Change and Health. She has also edited or authored the books Telerehabilitation: Principles and Practice, Sexual Sustainability, A Guide to Having a Great Sex Life with a Spinal Cord Disorder (which has been translated into Spanish, Hindi, Greek and Italian and More Sex, Less Drugs. She is an affiliate faculty member at The Climate and Health Program of the University of Colorado School of Medicine and in conjunction with the Sustain Our Abilities team, she is currently editing the textbook Climate Change and Disability: A Collaborative Approach to a Sustainable, Inclusive Future for All which will published in 2025.
James Cook University
QLD
Ruth is a researcher, educator and physiotherapist with experience in development and evaluation of innovative models of service delivery for people from rural, remote and First Nations communities; and of building the capacity and capability of the allied health workforce to deliver these services. Accordingly, Ruth is currently the lead researcher on two large projects that are focused on integration, navigation and strengthening of disability and rehabilitation services, particularly for people with complex disabling conditions including Spinal Cord Injury. Ruth has played a lead role in development and evaluation of the Allied Health Rural Generalist Education Program - a key focus of the Allied Health Rural Generalist Pathway strategy.Ruthis also Co-Chair of the Northern Australian Research Network, a cross-jurisdictional collaborative network that conducts translational research to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Northern Australia. She was instrumental in the critical partnership between NARN and Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA), the peak national body for the First Nations Allied Health. Ruth now works part-time with IAHA as a Senior Research Advisor.
Australian Catholic University
NSW
Dr Chloe Bryant graduated with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2017. In 2023, Chloe completed her PhD at UQ on enhancing sexual wellbeing after a spinal cord injury and this involved a three phase multi-methodological approach. Chloe has been teaching at UQ since 2018 and commenced her position as a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy in 2023. She previously worked as a Senior Research Officer for the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) where she was both involved in, and led, priority research topics to inform healthcare policy and best practice approaches. Most recently, Chloe received grant funding from Victoria Health to lead and undertake a research project within the Australian Catholic University (ACU) which will focus on developing a sexual health and wellbeing assessment tool for use with people with neurodevelopmental disability. Chloe’s research focus is on sexuality and disability; however, she also is passionate about teaching and research on various other topics including women’s health, mental health, consumer engagement research methods, and developing outcome measures. She has published in numerous international journals and her findings have been presented at over 15 national and international conferences. Chloe has demonstrated leadership in this area of practice in her role as Chair of the Australian OT Sexuality Special Interest Group (SIG) which she has led for over four years, and her expertise has been internationally recognised when speaking on sexuality as an invited speaker at an international conference. Chloe’s clinical experience has predominantly been and continues to be in a hospital rehabilitation service within Brisbane, however she also has experience within acute care, community and private practice settings.
Spinal Cord Injuries Australia
NSW
Paraplegic Benefit Fund
WA
Rollo’s working career began at the age of 15 spanning the hospitality, transport, oil and gas and agriculture industries. He made the decision to invest in his own business managing and driving road trains across Australia.
Rollo was riding his motorbike when he was hit side on by a car, being driven by a distracted driver in 2007. As a result, he lost his leg and sustained significant spinal damage. Thus began his long, ongoing and complicated journey with a spinal cord injury and managing pain. Rollo has had 64 surgeries to date and still managed to return to his own trucking business in between.
More recently, Rollo now works as part of PBF (Paraplegic Benefit Fund) Australia’s Injury Prevention workplace team. He shares his own story and experiences of a serious incident resulting in permanent life altering injuries and how it can happen anywhere at anytime. Engaging with his audience, Rollo’s presentations have a strong focus on safety and aim to initiate constructive conversations, encourage safer choices and educate people on what it’s really like to live with a spinal injury.
WA
Jos is passionate about accessibility, universal design, and healthcare for people with disability. As an Occupational Therapist and someone with lived experience of disability, Jos brings a unique perspective to her work.
Previously, Jos served as the Community Awareness Strategist for National Disability Services (NDS), where she played a key role in promoting NDS's access and inclusion services. Notable achievements include driving the impactful 'This Bay Is Someone's Day' campaign for the ACROD Parking Program, championing the WA Companion Card, and expanding the Changing Places network.
Jos also helped establish the AT Chat assistive technology peer mentoring project and currently serves as the director of Cord Fundraiser which raises funds for life-improving technology and equipment for individuals with spinal cord injuries.
Currently, she co-leads the Disability Health Network at the Department of Heath Western Australia. Her commitment to accessibility and inclusion is shaping a more inclusive future for all.
Climate Justice Union WA
WA
eenei te mihi ki a koutou katoa. E mihi ana kia tika ki nga iwi takitaki o te whenua moemoea. (Acknowledgement to our indigenous peoples of Australia, thank you for having me).
I am a mother of 7, my husband and I have raised 57 children from the state sector over our 34 year relationship. I come from a long line of Trade Unionist who campaigned for the rights of workers, their families and communities. I was a Senior Union Organiser with the largest private sector union in Aotearoa for 20 years prior to coming to WA in 2022. As an advocate for bullied workers, people with disabilities, young people at risk, my background stems from working within the community both as a Union Organiser and Community Services Sector Advocate. I hold a Honours degree in psychology and Industrial relations, with a background in cultural and indigenous relations supporting a voice for necessary change through an approach of equality, diversity and inclusion. I am currently working as a Member growth and community engagement Organiser with the Climate Justice Union WA, an organisation that dedicates its time to looking after people and country as we face the impacts of climate change whilst leaving no one behind
Since the early 1990s, Samantha has advocated for the rights of people with disabilities. She is also 35 years in her journey with spinal cord injury. Her passion for inclusion has driven her work with organisations like Women with Disabilities Australia and the Ministerial Advisory Council on Disability in Western Australia.
As previous CEO of People with disabilities WA, she championed co-design of the WA State Disability Strategy, and inclusion of people with disability in employment, housing, and policy development. She established the WA office of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and now provides strategic advice to the NDIS Independent Advisory Council.
She also spent 6 years as a local government councillor with the City of Stirling where she championed the tree canopy policy in recognition of the impact of climate change.
ATLAS
Chris Kerr is a passionate advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. She has a wealth of experience in the Human Services and private sectors and had a long-term involvement in the vocational education, labour market, and disability sectors with a focus on human rights, social inclusion and disability inclusive development.
Chris is currently the Operations Manager with ATLAS, a recreation inclusion program, providing support to people with disabilities and consults with Transition Management in the areas of training, organisational development, leadership, and disability awareness.
More recently, she has been the Regional Manager of Hope Community Services, an alcohol and other drugs rehabilitation service, worked as a Broadcaster and Producer with ABC Radio Midwest and Wheatbelt, managed an Employment service for People with disabilities and been a lecturer, course coordinator and Business Development officer with what is now Central Regional TAFE.
In 2017, Chris led a team of Australian volunteers with disabilities to work in Laos, supporting local people with disabilities to grow as contributors, decision-makers and leaders in their communities.
A sense of adventure has led Chris on many travels across the world, throughout South East Asia, US and Canada, South America and more recently an expedition to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania– an experience not for the faint hearted.
Chris is a passionate advocate for communities that value diversity and has sought to combine her personal and professional interests to promote community inclusion for all.
Chris loves to travel and when she is not travelling, talking about travelling or dreaming of her next destination, Chris likes to drink coffee, go ocean swimming and mountain biking.
Rural Spinal Cord Injury Service
NSW
Melissa McCormick is the Manager of the Rural Spinal Cord Injury Service ( part of the NSW Spinal Outreach Service) based at Royal Rehab in Sydney. She has a Bachelor of Health science in Nursing , is a non- practicing midwife and has a Master in Public Health. Melissa has been managing the rural service since its inception in 2007 and has a keen interest in the delivery of health services in rural areas having grown up in a remote region of rural NSW.
Paraplegic Benefit Fund
WA
Royal Perth Bentley Group
WA Australia
Dr Rob Schütze is a clinician researcher specialising in pain management, with dual appointments as a research academic and clinical psychologist. He is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Allied Health and Curtin enAble Institute, focusing on research relating to: interdisciplinary biospychosocial interventions for pain and chronic health conditions; mindfulness-based interventions; blended clinician-led and digitally enabled pain care; pain education for health professionals; and psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. He currently holds a Raine Clinician Research Fellowship and is a chief investigator on several industry funded and MRFF research projects. Clinically, Rob works as a Senior Clinical Psychologist in the Multidisciplinary Pain Management Centre at Royal Perth Hospital, and as a yoga/meditation teacher at Yoga Space Perth.
Edith Cowan University
NSW
Ms. Nishu Tyagi is a passionate Occupational Therapist, Telerehabilitation Specialist and Public Health Researcher from India. Currently, she is a Forrest Scholar at Forrest Research Foundation and School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Perth, Western Australia.
As an Early career researcher, she was instrumental in initiating the telerehabilitation services at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre in 2014 exclusively for SCI and introduced the concept of telerehabilitation via common technologies in patient care as a post-discharge service model in India, which later extended to other types of physical disabilities. She has produced and provided over 3000 personalised videos on rehabilitation and caregiver education. A popular research highlight was her first-author publication on the Indian telehealth model for people with SCI, published in Spinal Cord Series and Cases (SCSC) in 2019 and conducted many collaborative workshops on Telehealth and Telerehabilitation at regional, National and International levels. She received $50,000 as a Primary Investigator from the Rick Hansen Institute as part of a Canada-India SCI Innovation Award in 2018 for learning about home care issues after SCI. Due to her progressive ideas and critical thinking, she was recently selected on the editorial board of WORK, Asian Spine Journal and promoted to Associate Editor of SCSC.
In India, she teamed up with prestigious institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship IIT Hyderabad to develop virtual reality programs, low-cost diagnostics and ICT solutions for SCI rehabilitation and healthy living.
Furthermore, she also had an opportunity to work with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi, in the “National Programme for Prevention & Management of Trauma & Burn Injuries” and with the Burns & Trauma Division at the Directorate General of Health Services, New Delhi to assist in the first draft of National Injury Prevention Strategy Document and National Drowning Prevention Strategy Framework. The first document on the Strategic Framework for Drowning Prevention in India was officially released on December 13, 2023, by the Hon’ble Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare in New Delhi.
She has been actively involved at National and International levels in promoting education without borders, virtual rehabilitation and follow-up care in research and clinical practice. Recipient of prestigious awards like Spinal Cord Society Gold Medal (twice), Canada India SCI Innovation Award, Dr B.R Ambedkar National Award, SRI International Travel Grant, ASCoN Travel Grant, and ASCoN Fellowship Award.
Repat Health Precinct
SA Australia
B of App Sc (Physiotherapy) (APA Neurology Group Member)
In 1998 Dee gained her Physiotherapy degree at the University of SA (BSc Physiotherapy) and worked across SA, WA and England. Dee has spent most of her career treating patients affected by neurological conditions with a special interest in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation. Having gained experience in the UK practicing physiotherapy at The Northwest Spinal Injury Unit and as the senior physiotherapist at a leading Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit, Dee returned to Adelaide in 2012 and has continued to work in senior rehabilitation roles across SA whilst also fulfilling clinical education for undergraduate physiotherapy students. Dee currently works in the Spinal Outreach Rehabilitation Team within SA Spinal Cord Injury Service (SASCIS) as the Interdisciplinary Practice Professional. Part of this role includes providing interdisciplinary phone or telehealth support to newly acquired spinal cord injured patients recently discharged from the Spinal Rehab Unit at Repat Health Precinct (RHP) living in rural and remote South Australia or Broken Hill. She also works in private practice as a Senior Physiotherapist at Unley Physiotherapy, in Adelaide.