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17th Annual Muscle Health Awareness Day (MHAD17)

The Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC) at York University will host the 17th Annual Muscle Health Awareness Day (MHAD17) on Friday, May 1, 2026.

📅 May 1, 2026

📍 York University

This in-person event will bring together researchers, clinicians, trainees, and community partners to share the latest research and advances in muscle health and neuromuscular disease.

The program will feature invited presentations from leading researchers including Dr. Jenna Gibbs (McGill University), Dr. Arthur Cheng (York University), Dr. Val Fajardo (Brock University), Dr. Stephen Brown (University of Guelph), Dr. Penny Gilbert (University of Toronto), and Dr. Robin Duncan (University of Waterloo). 

The event will also include:

  • Poster presentation sessions
  • A lived experience presentation from a community partner in collaboration with MitoCanada
  • Networking opportunities including a student–faculty roundtable discussion
  • Awards recognizing outstanding poster presentations

Researchers and trainees are encouraged to submit abstracts for poster presentations. Abstracts submitted by April 15, 2026 (midnight) will be eligible for six poster prizes and inclusion in the official MHAD17 program.

📌 Registration deadline: April 15, 2026

💲 Registration fee: $30 (to support catering for breakfast and lunch)

To view the full program and agenda, please review the file:

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Announcements Opportunities Trainee Opportunities

Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunity

Professors Anne Hudon, Matthew Hunt, and Eric Racine are inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to join the Laboratoire d’Éthique Vivante en Réadaptation (LEViER), based at the Gingras-Lindsay Rehabilitation Institute of Montreal. This fellowship focuses on advancing research in rehabilitation ethics and living lab approaches. 

The selected fellow will join a dynamic interdisciplinary team of researchers, clinicians, students, and patient partners working to promote ethical practices in rehabilitation research and care.

As part of this fellowship, the postdoctoral researcher will contribute to:

• Participatory rehabilitation ethics research projects, including qualitative data collection and analysis

• Arts-based and living lab ethics initiatives

• Mentorship of graduate students

• Empirical and theoretical research on ethical considerations in living laboratory environments 

Eligibility requirements include:

• A PhD in a related field (e.g., rehabilitation sciences, health sciences, sociology, bioethics, anthropology, or philosophy)

• Experience or strong interest in ethics research

• Expertise in qualitative research, particularly participatory or arts-based methods

• Excellent writing skills and fluency in English and French

• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively 

Funding is available to support the selected postdoctoral fellow, who will also be encouraged to apply for provincial and federal fellowship funding opportunities. 

For more information or to apply, please send your CV and cover letter to: camilledesforgeslevier@outlook.com

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Announcements Opportunities Trainee Opportunities

2026 Trainee Summer School

The Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network, in collaboration with the Western Bone and Joint Institute and the MSK Innovation Factory, is pleased to announce the Building Impactful MSK Health Research: Knowledge Mobilization Summer School.

When: July 6-10, 2026

Where: Western University, London, Ontario

This week-long summer school is designed to build capacity in knowledge mobilization and implementation among trainees, researchers, clinicians, and professionals working in MSK health.

Participants will have the opportunity to:

  • Learn foundational principles of knowledge mobilization and implementation
  • Develop hands-on research dissemination and impact skills
  • Gain experience in planning and evaluating knowledge mobilization strategies
  • Learn directly from leading academics, patient partners, and professionals across healthcare, community, and policy settings

Requirements:

  • Applicants must be graduate students or postdoctoral fellows registered and attending a Canadian post-secondary institution.
  • Applicants must be a member of the Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network (If you are not already a Network member, apply for free here: https://mskrehabnet.com/about/current-members/) or through the summer school application form.

Important Details:

  • There is no registration fee for any attendee.
  • We will arrange and pay for your accommodation at Western if you are travelling from out of province or another city.
  • Funding support will be provided to trainees who need to travel from out of province or another city in order to attend the summer school. Local students may attend without funding as they will not need accommodation or travel support. Funding support will include:
    • up to $200 for travel from a city within the province (e.g., Toronto).
    • up to $500 for travel from a neighbouring province (e.g., Quebec).
    • up to $1000 for travel from elsewhere in Canada (e.g., British Columbia, Nova Scotia, etc.).
  • Supervisors are expected to provide additional funding to help cover travel costs for their students. Trainees located outside of Ontario who will be reimbursed between $500-$1000 from the MSK Network, must provide written confirmation that their supervisor will provide an additional $200 in financial support toward their travel expenses.
  • We will be accepting trainees from across Canada. However, due to limited funds and capacity we cannot accept all applications. A review process will be used to determine the successful candidates.
  • If you have any questions about the summer schools or applications, please email the Network Coordinator at rehabnet@uwo.ca
  • Application deadline: April 7, 2026

This is an excellent opportunity for trainees and early-career researchers interested in enhancing the reach, impact, and real-world application of their MSK health research.

Apply here:  https://uwo.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bgA62b2NB9U1DZs

Please read the application instructions carefully before submitting your application.

We encourage you to share this opportunity with trainees and colleagues who may be interested.

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Announcements Opportunities

Prospective Student Seeking Post-Doctoral Fellowship – Sahar Johari

Sahar Johari recently completed her PhD in Rehabilitation Science (physical therapy) at Western University under the supervision of Dr. Joy MacDermid. With a background in Occupational Therapy, her research focuses on musculoskeletal rehabilitation, balance and fall prevention, and bone health in older adults, particularly those with osteoporosis, fragility fractures, and fear of falling.

Sahar’s doctoral work combined systematic and scoping reviews, qualitative research, and tool development/validation to create a balance-focused clinical decision support tool for therapists. Sahar also collaborates at the Hand and Upper Limb Centre (St. Joseph’s Hospital, London, ON), contributing to projects on upper-limb recovery and functional outcomes. Sahar brings expertise in mixed-methods research, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and knowledge translation.

Sahar is seeking postdoctoral opportunities in musculoskeletal rehabilitation, aging, and women’s health, particularly those involving clinical and implementation research, digital or remote rehabilitation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Sahar_Resume_2025

Interested colleagues or potential collaborators can reach Sahar at: sjohari@uwo.ca

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Announcements Opportunities Trainee Opportunities

From Experience to Evidence: Partnering with Patients in Rehab Research

Session four of the Writing and Publication Series titled “From Experience to Evidence: Partnering with Patients in Rehab Research” will focus on what trainees would like to know about patient partner engagement in research.

Three engaging sessions will be provided by Dr. Joy MacDermid, Dr. Katie Kowalski, and Dr. Aliki Thomas.

When: November 24, from 12-1pm ET

Register here: https://westernuniversity.zoom.us/meeting/register/FxiVoLecTWqdL5cucnhnBw

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Announcements Opportunities Trainee Opportunities

Prospective Student Seeking Research Position – Norio Tomita

Norio Tomita is a PhD candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Montreal. Norio has completed the final requirements and will be completing their PhD this fall.

Norio is seeking a research position. Norio is an ultrasound engineer with skills in non-invasive measurement and medical image analysis. Through their PhD program, they have gained experience in clinical study design, ethical review, and biostatistics. Norio will also be participating in several task forces within the Fascia Research Society, where they will be able to share the latest insights into fascia research.

For more information contact: norio.tomita@gmail.com

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Announcements Opportunities Trainee Opportunities

Prospective Student Seeking Post-Doctoral Fellowship – Raghava Neelapala Yuva Venkata

Raghava Neelapala is seeking post-doctoral opportunities in the areas of pain mechanisms and targeted rehabilitation strategies for knee osteoarthritis.

Raghava Neelapala is a physical therapist by training and a recent PhD graduate from the School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University. His PhD work, supervised by Dr. Lisa Carlesso, focused on identifying phenotypes and examining the role of adiposity and systemic inflammation in knee osteoarthritis (OA).

He is a recipient of competitive scholarships from the Arthritis Society, Canada, McMaster Institute of Pain Research and Care, and McMaster Institute of Research in Aging. The scientific impact of his work has been published in 25 peer-reviewed articles and presented at over 15 conferences.

He is seeking post-doctoral opportunities to further his training and contribution to the field of chronic musculoskeletal pain, specifically in the areas of subgroup-specific treatment approaches for the rehabilitation of knee OA.

For more information contact: yvraghava9@gmal.com

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Announcements Opportunities Trainee Opportunities

Help Shape the 2026 MSK Network Summer School!

Planning is underway for the 2026 MSK Network Summer School, and we want to ensure the program reflects the needs and interests of our community. To guide our planning, we are seeking input from both trainees and supervisors.

We invite you to complete a short, two-question survey to let us know which topics you believe would be most valuable to feature at the Summer School. Your feedback will directly inform the design of the program and help us deliver content that is timely, relevant, and impactful.

Access the survey here: https://uwo.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6PYjmo2e5M54UC2

Thank you in advance for taking a moment to share your perspective. Your contributions are essential to making the 2026 Summer School a meaningful and enriching experience for all.

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Announcements Opportunities Trainee Opportunities

Graduate Student Opportunities – Join Dr. Guillaume Durandau

Dr. Guillaume Durandau is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow or PhD student to support recently awarded research grants. Candidates with expertise in neuromusculoskeletal modelling, machine learning, or biomechanics are strongly encouraged to apply.

  • Duration: 2 years
  • Start date: September 2026

These positions are funded through:

  • IRSST – Subvention par projet de recherche
  • New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) – Exploration

For more information contact: guillaume.durandau@mcgill.ca

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Announcements Opportunities Trainee Opportunities

Become a MORE Rater for REHAB+!

The MSK Network is currently recruiting MORE raters for  Rehab+ , a free email alerting service and searchable database that brings high-quality evidence to the attention of occupational and physical therapists. 

 Please help us identify the best evidence for you and your peers! If you are currently practicing as an occupational therapist or physical therapist in a clinical setting or as a clinical practice leader or manager directly supervising clinical care, we invite you to become a rater for the McMaster Online Rating of Evidence (MORE) system.  The MORE system collects your vote on the relevance and newsworthiness of hot-off-the-press articles within your clinical specialty. We supply online articles according to your clinical interests, and you rate the articles on 2 simple scales. This takes about 5 to 10 minutes. You can tell us how often you are willing to receive articles.  

Benefits to becoming a MORE rater:  

  • Stay current with the best evidence that has been critically appraised by methodology experts at McMaster’s HiRU. 
  • See what your peers are saying about the same article. 
  • Help build an evidence-based information service for you and your colleagues (Rehab+). 
  • Receive an annual summary of your ratings activity to include in your professional practice portfolio.  

If you would like to join us as a rater, please click on this link and provide your name and email address. You can also include the names and email addresses of any colleagues whom you feel would also be interested in joining us as a MORE rater. 

Please feel free to share this call with your networks as REHAB+ can only continue to exist if we increase our rater pool.  

PS If you haven’t already done so, we invite you to sign up for the free Rehab+ service to receive alerts of articles that pass the critical appraisal and MORE Rehab rating processes.  

If you have any questions about MORE Rehab, please let us know at morerehab@mcmasterhkr.com

We look forward to working with you!