Toronto Rehab Foundation
Canada
Dr Mark Bayley is Medical Director of the Brain & Spinal Cord Rehab Program at Toronto Rehab and a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He holds the Saunderson Family Chair in Acquired Brain Injury Research. His research interests are in the following areas: rehabilitation of acquired brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, neurological pharmacology and functional outcome measurement after rehabilitation. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr Bayley has published and lectured extensively in his areas of research.
Dr Bayley is identifying, measuring and standardizing the most effective approaches to neurological rehabilitation. “We need to be sure which components of rehabilitation are the most effective,” he says. As Medical Director of Toronto Rehab’s Brain & Spinal Cord Program, Dr Bayley treats people with stroke and other brain injuries and does research in the field of brain recovery. Dr Bayley and his colleagues are one of the first groups to study how to implement best practices in this area.
Dr Bayley is also studying patients who are unusually slow to recover after some kind of brain injury. “We’ve found that people continue to recover for a considerable amount of time after an injury,” he says.
Dr Bayley and his research team are working to develop and disseminate system-wide guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI/concussion), including customized treatment and follow up. These guideline will standardize care and secondary prevention for adults with brain concussion across Ontario by providing physicians with consistent information and materials to most appropriately treat adult patients. “It is our duty as health professionals to enhance system change. Donor support is helping to expedite essential changes in concussion treatment.”
MossRehab
USA
Dr Alberto Esquenazi, MD, serves as the John Otto Haas Chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Albert Einstein Medical Center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is Chief Medical Officer of MossRehab as well as Director of the Gait and Motion Analysis Laboratory and the Regional Amputee Center. Dr Esquenazi is Professor of PMR at Temple University and Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Drexel University.
Dr Esquenazi received his medical degree in Medicine and Surgery from Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico City. He completed his residency training at Temple University, in Philadelphia, and a fellowship in gait analysis and prosthetic research.
Dr Esquenazi’s research focuses on gait analysis, limb prosthetics, orthotics, spasticity management and robotics in rehabilitation. He has published widely in peer reviewed journals and authored 40 book chapters. He serves on the editorial boards for PM&R and the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.
Dr Esquenazi is Past president of the American Academy of PMR and a member of the board of ISPRM. He is the recipient of prestigious national and international awards for his clinical, research and educational efforts.
Flinders Medical Centre
SA Australia
Dr Zoe Adey-Wakeling, PhD is a Senior Rehabilitation Physician at Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia, and holds Academic Status with Flinders University. Her PhD focussed on the hemiplegic upper limb, with publications in Stroke and Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and outcomes cited in national and international clinical practice guidelines for Stroke.
Dr Adey-Wakeling has presented at national and international conferences, including the International Stroke Conference and the Stroke Society of Australasia. Dr Adey-Wakeling has a particular interest in Driving Fitness Assessment. She was the lead in the Australian College of Rehabilitation Medicine Working Party in the development of a position statement regarding driving assessment and has developed telehealth clinics addressing driving in regional communities.
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
VIC Australia
Julie is a clinical researcher and Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne. Julie has been working with people with stroke for 30 years. She Co-heads the Stroke Theme at The Florey and leads a research team focused on development and testing of new interventions that aim to improve outcomes for people with stroke. Julie is also Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery. She was the Principal Investigator for the international, AVERT early rehabilitation trial and is Australia’s leading rehabilitation trialist. Julie is also Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery. She led the first international Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable to develop new standards for research and is a strong advocate for Women in Science.
Paralympics Australia
SA Australia
Katie has been a parasport classifier for over 10 years, classifying internationally for wheelchair rugby and paracycling. She has also worked with both the national and international sport federations to develop and grow classification opportunities and train classifiers both here and in developing nations. In day-to-day work, she is a physiotherapist, currently working in disability workforce development.
University of Sydney
NSW Australia
Ian Cameron is a NHMRC Senior Practitioner Fellow at the John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. He is a Consultant Physician in Rehabilitation Medicine and has the Chair in Rehabilitation Medicine, at the University of Sydney. His current research themes are injury, rehabilitation and disability; and specifically, disability and health in older people, musculoskeletal injury in compensable settings, and catastrophic injury (associated with severe long-term disability).
Flinders Medical Centre
SA Australia
Professor Maria Crotty is a clinical academic and rehabilitation physician. In 2001 she was appointed Professor and Director of Rehabilitation Medicine based in the Rehabilitation Unit at Repatriation General Hospital which moved to the Flinders Medical Centre campus in November 2017.
She leads a multidisciplinary research group who focus on how to implement best and promising care models and practices within health and aged care settings. Embedded within a healtcare setting their research aims to bridge research and clinical care using implementation science approaches.
Athletics Australia
SA Australia
Born with Cerebral Palsy Brayden's dream was to make the Paralympics, at an early age his goal was to make it in swimming however after an injury to his shoulders that no longer made this possible, Brayden took up athletics. in 2016 Brayden was lucky enough to make his dream come true making the Rio 2016 Paralympic games, There Brayden won the Gold in the T36 Long Jump.
St Vincents Hospital Sydney
NSW Australia
Associate Professor Steven Faux is the Director of the Departments of Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney and a Conjoint Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of NSW and Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine the University of Notre Dame. He has authored over 70 journal articles and received the Ko Awatea International Excellence award for patient safety in developing and translating evidence based guidelines in acute pain management for the elderly. He was a finalist in the NSW Premier’s Award for the development of an integrated rehabilitation service.
Associate Professor Faux has conducted the first Australian RCT in tele-rehabilitation for Chronic Pain, the first international RCT in polytrauma rehabilitation and the first examination of pain profiles in asylum seekers and refugees held in detention. He is a foundation member of the National Facility for Human Robot Interaction Research at University of NSW and has obtained a number of Australian Research Council grants to conduct research in robotics in cognitive impairment, the use of unobtrusive sensors in falls prevention and the use of immersive (3D) virtual reality for stroke education and rehabilitation. Associate Professor Faux has conducted research in brain injury in Canada as a visiting Professor at McGill University and Montreal General Hospital and maintains active research collaborations in France, the UK and India. He holds executive committee appointments on the NSW Pain Network, then National Stroke Coalition, the Australian Stroke Registry and the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation. He is a passionate advocate for refugee health, anti-discrimination and the rights of the disabled.
Flinders University
SA Australia
Professor Sue Gordon (PhD, BaAppSc(Physio), Grad DipMgt, GCTertTchg) worked clinically as a physiotherapist for 23 years mostly in private practice in northern SA and Eyre Peninsula before commencing an academic role in 2006. She initially led the development and roll out of a new physiotherapy program at James Cook University in Townsville and since she has had various academic roles in teaching, university governance and research. Sue has held the position of Chair of Restorative Care in Ageing, a co-funded position between Aged Care Housing Group (ACH) and Flinders University, since 2015.
Her areas of research include applications of innovative technology, healthy ageing, musculoskeletal and lymphatic conditions.
Sue has been the lead investigator for grants totalling more than $8 million and has numerous research publications and presentations.
The University of Sydney
NSW Australia
Dr Leanne Hassett works at the University of Sydney as a Senior Lecturer in Neurological Physiotherapy and Senior Research Fellow and NHMRC TRIP Fellow. Her research aims to increase physical activity in people with physical disabilities and to provide greater opportunities and access to appropriate and preferred physical activity options. She was a lead investigator and research manager for the AMOUNT rehabilitation trial, the largest trial internationally evaluating physiotherapy-led digitally enabled rehabilitation. She has more than 15 years’ experience working as a clinical physiotherapist in neurological rehabilitation, particularly working with people after severe traumatic brain injury.
University of South Australia
SA Australia
Brenton Hordacre is an NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow working with the Body in Mind Research group at the University of South Australia. His research is focused on understanding and improving stroke recovery. Using state-of-the-art neurophysiological and imaging techniques, Brenton is investigating the role of cortical connectivity in stroke recovery and how different interventions can optimise the connectivity profile for best recovery. He has expertise in non-invasive brain stimulation, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) to understand and investigate brain function.
University of Sydney
NSW Australia
David Isaacs was born in London and has an identical twin brother, Stephen, who is a child psychiatrist. They went to different schools and once swapped schools for a day. His mother was also a child psychiatrist and his father, Alick, discovered interferon in 1957.
David trained in general paediatrics in London and Sydney and in paediatric infectious diseases in Oxford. He moved to Sydney in 1989 to head a Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, but was the only member of the Department. He is Clinical Professor in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the University of Sydney. His research is mainly in neonatal infections, respiratory viral infections and immunisation. In 2001-2, he did a post-graduate diploma in bioethics at Monash University and has been involved in teaching and writing about bioethics ever since. He loves writing and has published over 250 papers and 10 books on paediatric infectious diseases, neonatal infections, immunisations and ethics. He has also published 25 humorous articles. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
David is married and has four grown-up children. He coached one son’s soccer team and managed another son’s cricket team for several years. He still plays violin in a local orchestra and loves theatre, art and music.
Hunter New England Health Local Health District
NSW Australia
Dr Heidi Janssen is a NSW Health Early-Mid Career Research Fellow who led the trial Altering the Rehabilitation to Improve Stroke Survivor Activity (AREISSA) which was a safety and feasibility trial which was informed by her PhD project which was the first attempt to translate the use of environmental enrichment into the clinical setting. She is currently leading the NSW Health and University of Newcastle sponsored clinical trial, Service change and Supporting Lifestyle and Activity Modification after TIA (SLAM-TIA). Dr Janssen is employed by Hunter New England Health and works two days with the Community and Aged Care Services, Community Stroke Team running a secondary stroke prevention program and three days a week conducting clinical research.
Greenwich Hospital
NSW Australia
Dr Amanda Johns is a consultant physician in Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine. Amanda completed her medical degree at the University of New South Wales in 2003. Dr Johns completed her rehabilitation medicine training in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales and received the Basmajian Prize in 2009. After qualifying as a Rehabilitation Specialist, she completed her fellowship in Pain Medicine at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney in 2015. Amanda currently works in chronic pain clinics at RPA Hospital and Greenwich Hospital. She is also project leader for the Greenwich Hospital -Far West NSW Chronic Pain Telehealth Service. Dr Johns works also in acute cancer pain, cancer rehabilitation and aboriginal medical services.
Flinders Medical Centre & Flinders University
SA Australia
Dr. Luke Johnson is the founding Head of the South Australian Bone Tumour Unit, which is based at the Flinders Medical Centre in South Australia. The Unit utilises a Multi-Disciplinary Team approach to dealing with the complex problems of soft tissue and bone tumours. DR. Johnson is actively involved in research & teaching in this area of Orthopaedic care. Importantly, he was awarded the 2018 American-British-Canadian (ABC) Travelling Fellowship in Orthopaedics for Australia. This is recognised as the most prestigious Travelling Fellowship of the English speaking Nations.
Dr. Johnson has also been recognised for his commitment to surgical teaching through membership of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Academy of Surgical Educators. He works collaboratively with many other clinicians & clinician-scientists nationally & internationally to improve patient outcomes in the area of Bone Tumour & Sarcoma Surgery.
Dr. Johnson completed his post-graduate medical training at Flinders University in South Australia, following completion of a Bachelor of Science in Palaeontology at the same institution. He then completed his surgical training in Orthopaedic Surgery in 2013 in South Australia and the Northern Territory, thereby obtaining his Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons & the following year his Fellowship of the Australian Orthopaedic Association. He subsequently undertook extensive sub-specialist training in Sarcoma & Bone Tumour Surgery, as well as limb-salvage & arthroplasty, at the world renowned Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital at Stanmore, London. He returned to Adelaide 2 years later & established the SA Bone Tumour Unit. Since then he has worked tirelessly to improve services for South Australians & Northern Territorians who have a diagnosis of a musculoskeletal tumour.
Flinders University
SA Australia
Alison Kitson is the inaugural Vice President and Executive Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University South Australia. Prior to this appointment she was Dean and Head of School at Adelaide Nursing School at the University of Adelaide.
Before moving to Australia in 2009, Alison worked at the Royal College of Nursing in executive leadership, education and research roles. She has published over 300 peer reviewed articles and in 2014 was acknowledged in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Thomas Reuters) list of high cite world researchers for her work on knowledge translation.
Her contribution to nursing and health service research continue to be recognised internationally. Honours include, Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science (2015); Honorary Doctorate from Malmo University (2013); Fellowship of the American Nurses Association (2011). Earlier awards include the Florence Nightingale Leadership Award in 2004; Distinguished Graduate of the Year from the University of Ulster in 2002, a Florence Nightingale Travel Award in 1999 (The Edith Cavell Travel Fellowship) and a Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in 1991.
She is a visiting professor at Oxford Brookes University and QUT. She is also an Associate Research Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. In 2017 she was appointed to the Board of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
La Trobe University
VIC Australia
Dr. Lannin holds a joint research-only position with Alfred Health (Melbourne) and La Trobe University, and is an honorary Research Fellow at the John Walsh Institute for Rehabilitation Research at The University of Sydney, the George Institute for Global Health and the Florey Institute of Neurosciences and Mental Health. Working within the Alfred Health hospital network, she conducts clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions as well as translation research into improving the long-term outcomes for those living with an acquired brain injury from stroke or traumatic causes. Dr. Lannin is a supervisor of higher research degree students (PhD and Master's). She has published widely in leading journals such as Stroke, Journal of Epidemiology, and Clinical Rehabilitation, and has received competitive research grants from federal government (including NHMRC), state government (including the Transport Accident Commission) and philanthropic organizations (including the National Stroke Foundation).
Flinders University
SA Australia
Dr Laver has over 15 years of clinical experience as an occupational therapist working in rehabilitation with people with dementia or stroke. She has research experience in testing rehabilitation interventions (fields of dementia and stroke) and other nonpharmacological therapy approaches and use of innovative technologies in rehabilitation. Dr Laver has postgraduate qualifications in implementation science and expertise in knowledge translation.
Monash University
VIC Australia
Dr Denise O’Connor is NHMRC Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) Fellow and Senior Research Fellow in the Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology at Cabrini, and Director of the Australasian Satellite of Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group, Monash University. Her research is in health services, focusing on the design, delivery, uptake and impact of implementation interventions to promote uptake of research findings into practice. She has been influential in developing an International research agenda for using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to design and evaluate implementation interventions. She has contributed to the design of four cluster-randomised trials to evaluate the effects of implementation interventions in primary care and hospital settings and one stepped wedge trial in a policy setting. She contributes to methods guidance for Cochrane EPOC which publishes reviews of interventions to improve health care delivery and systems, including back pain.
SA Health
Australia
Kate Osborne is the Statewide Telerehabilitation Program Manager for SA Health and, in partnership with multiple local health networks, has been leading the expansion of telerehabilitation across SA to improve consumer access to rehabilitation services. With a regional allied health background Kate is passionate about leading and influencing complex system change that supports staff to empower consumers to focus on improving their health and wellbeing.
SAHMRI
SA Australia
Professor Geraint Rogers a microbiologist and molecular geneticist. He is Director of the Microbiome and Host Health Programme at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, and leads a research laboratory at Flinders University School of Medicine. His research focuses on the contribution of the microbiome to human health and disease.
Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Service
VIC Australia
A/Professor Adam Scheinberg (FRACP FAFRM DCH MMed (ClinEpi)) is Statewide Medical Director of the Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Service (VPRS), and Head of Department Paediatric Rehabilitation Royal Children’s Hospital. An active clinician with over 20 years’ experience in the care of children and adults with disability, he has been successful at integrating research knowledge into the Australian health care system. A/Prof Scheinberg is an AI on current CREs in Cerebral Palsy and Acquired Brain Injury. He is heavily involved in many of the CRE’s research activities, particularly the knowledge translation fellowships of the CRE-CP. He has knowledge of the key factors impacting on the function of children and adults with cerebral palsy, and the ability of those working in the health care sector to provide evidenced based, cost effective care. He has an interest in technology and is collaborating with the Digital Frontiers Laboratory at Swinburne University to develop a humanoid robot to assist with post-operative care. As a long-standing member, and now Chair, of the Training and Education Committee of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, A/Prof Scheinberg has regular contact with key Paediatric Rehabilitation specialists involved in rehabilitation programs around Australia. This group is influential in their ability to drive clinical change within their programs, encourage recruitment to large scale research programs, and through links to adult rehabilitation colleagues, ensure care across the lifespan.
A/Prof Scheinberg is a Board member of Very Special Kids, one of only 3 children’s hospices in Australia, and is also on the advisory committee of Solve.
A/Prof Scheinberg was President of the Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine 2010-2012, Past President and non-voting board member AusACPDM 2013-4, Re-elected to the Board of Directors 2014-2018. He was Chair of the International Relations Portfolio 2016-2018. He is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, and Department of Paediatrics Monash University.
University of Sydney
NSW
Professor Cathie Sherrington FAHMS, PhD, MPH, BAppSc (Physio) is a Professorial Research Fellow and National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship holder at the School of Public Health and Institute for Musculoskeletal Health University of Sydney/ Sydney Local Health District where she leads the Physical Activity, Ageing and Disability Research Stream. Her research focuses on the design and evaluation of falls prevention and exercise interventions for older people and those with disabilities. She has authored 227 refereed journal articles, including reports of 32 clinical trials and 17 systematic reviews, and has been a Chief Investigator on NHMRC grants totaling over $19 million. She was one of the founders of PEDro, the Physiotherapy Evidence Database www.pedro.org. Prior to completing a PhD and Masters of Public Heath, Cathie was a physiotherapist in aged care and rehabilitation settings.
Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre
NSW Australia
Frances Simmonds is a Senior Research Fellow with the Australian Health Services Research Institute (AHSRI) at the University of Wollongong, one of the largest and best known Health Services Research Centres in Australia. Her primary role is as the Director of AROC, the Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre, the Australian and New Zealand national rehabilitation clinical registry, but she is also involved in other AHSRI projects. Frances’ career within the health industry has spanned some 25 plus years, during which time she has held senior executive roles in the private and not-for-profit sectors before returning to research and academia at the University of Wollongong.
Flinders University
SA Australia
Dr Maayken van den Berg is a senior research fellow at the Department of Rehabilitation, Aged and Extended Care, and a senior lecturer in the postgraduate Clinical Rehabilitation programs at Flinders University. She holds degrees in Movement Sciences and Physiotherapy and received her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from Birmingham University, UK. Her research interests include mobility and physical activity in people undergoing geriatric and neurological rehabilitation, and the way modern technology can contribute to support opportunity for practice and self-management.
Determined2
SA Australia
In 2007 while at work, Peter Wilson was involved in a serious motorcycle accident which nearly cost him his life. After a long and difficult recovery, he returned to a "normal life" until 2015, his mental and physical health hit an all-time low. Faced with a hard decision, he chose to take a leap of faith and with the support of his wife and children started his own company, Determined2 and went on to found Immersion Therapy, a multiple award-winning service for people living with disabilities, injuries and medical conditions.
Peter wanted to disrupt the status quo and challenge the system when it came to the longer-term recovery after a life changing event.
Along with starting his company and building the service he has worked with various government authorities to bring about broader change to the injury and disability sector. He is particularly proud of the work he does with RTWSA including giving evidence at the parliamentary enquiry last year. As a person with a workplace injury he felt this was his duty to ensure that others wouldn’t have to suffer as he did under the old broken scheme.
Peter is also very proud of the research that is being undertaken by Uni SA and some of the best Doctors in Adelaide including Dr Adrian Winsor, a senior Rehabilitation Physician at SA Health and the support he has received from Dr David Wilkinson, AOM at the RAH, without it he would never have built the service he has today.
Peter has been pleasantly surprised, he set out to be a disrupter, a rebel with the crazy idea that people are never defined by the challenges they face but only by the way they choose to face them. He expected criticism and instead he has motivated change and interest in doing things differently. He wouldn’t say it’s a revolution, more like an evolution towards better person-centred practices and real outcomes, giving people belief in themselves and empowering good choices.