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Announcements Newsletter

Biomechanics & Osteoarthritis Symposium

The inaugural Biomechanics and Osteoarthritis Symposium was held on May 28th in conjunction with the Canadian Society for Biomechanics and the Canadian MSK Rehabilitation Research Network. Hosted by Dr. Michael Hunt (UBC), Dr. Cheryl Kozey (Dalhousie) and Dr. Janie Wilson (McMaster), over 100 registrants from Canada, the United States and Europe enjoyed an engaging morning of presentations, discussion and collaboration.

The virtual symposium began with a debate between Dr. Hunt and Dr. Wilson on the relative importance of the external knee adduction moment in osteoarthritis biomechanics research. This was followed by five trainee presentations on a wide range of topics in biomechanics and osteoarthritis research. The morning was concluded by a presentation from Dr. Kozey on the future of the GaitNET initiative which is supported by the Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network.

The event was highly successful in its goal of bringing together researchers from across Canada and abroad, to discuss priorities in biomechanics research and investigate how collaboration can move the field forward through building consensus, increasing sample sizes and improving future funding success.

Thank you to the organizers for creating a unique and engaging event on short notice, and to all of the presenters for sharing their exciting work. We look forward to hosting these events on a regular basis to increase collaborations, scale-up research and ultimately improve MSK health outcomes for those living with pain and limited mobility.

The recorded sessions are now available to view here:

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Announcements Grants Opportunities Research

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: Grant Competition Open

National Team Development Grants (Osteoarthritis and Chronic Pain) and Emerging Team Grant (Rehab after COVID-19)

On behalf of the Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network’s Executive Committee, we are pleased to launch two new funding opportunities.

Over our first four years of operations the MSK Rehab Research Network supported a total of 23 projects; an investment of over $200,000 in high impact pilot projects.

These new opportunities mark the first round of competitions in our new CIHR funding structure and are therefore being offered as Team Development and Emerging Team Grants with substantially higher funding available.

Application deadline: September 15, 2021

Please see application forms below for full details and application instructions. Any questions can be directed to rehabnet@uwo.ca

Team Development Grant:

This round of awards is intended to establish a new research team that brings together researchers or a new national collaboration between existing teams from across Canada focused on remote/online delivery of rehabilitation projects relevant to one of two key Network priorities: osteoarthritis, or non-specific chronic MSK pain

$150,000 total available funds for up to two (2) grants of up to $75,000 each

Team-Development-Application-Form-2021Download

Emerging Team Grant:

This grant is intended to address the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for future rehabilitation needs. Objectives include establishing a new research team that brings together researchers from across the country focused on rehabilitation of post-COVID-19 long-term effects, and developing a research plan that addresses a multi-faceted rehabilitation approach to long-term COVID-19 symptoms, with a focus on, but not limited to the MSK system, by addressing pain and mobility challenges

$30,000 total available funds for one (1) grant of up to $30,000

Emerging-Team-Application-Form-2021Download
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Announcements Opportunities

Bone & Joint Institute Seeking Director

Western University in London, Ontario, Canada seeks applicants for a Director of the Bone and Joint Institute (BJI) (https://boneandjoint.uwo.ca/). Applicants who can demonstrate outstanding leadership in research, training and outreach in the field of musculoskeletal health are encouraged to apply.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Review of applications will begin on May 1, 2021. Please see the full details and application instructions below:

BJI-Director-Call-for-Application-2021Download
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Announcements Research

Dr. Shawn Robbins Receives Strategic Operating Grant from The Arthritis Society

Congratulations to Network researcher Dr. Shawn Robbins from McGill University for receiving a Strategic Operating Grant from the Arthritis Society for his project: The effectiveness of medial pivot knee arthroplasty implants at improving gait and clinical outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A randomized controlled trial.

“Over 67,000 knee replacements are performed annually in Canada for knee arthritis and 20% of patients remain unsatisfied after surgery. New implants have been designed, called medial pivot implants, which claim to more closely mimic normal knee movements. There has been limited testing of these implants, so their effectiveness and safety are not clear. Dr. Shawn Robbins will compare knee movement before and after surgery for walking and stair climbing, pain, and physical function between patients who had medial pivot or traditional knee replacement implants. A better understanding of the most effective knee implants will help to maximize patient outcomes, minimize negative side effects, and decrease demands on the healthcare system.”

You can view all results from The Arthritis Society’s recent grant competition here: https://arthritis.ca/researchers/competition-results

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Announcements Research

Dr. Lisa Carlesso Receives Career Development Award

Congratulations to Network Researcher Dr. Lisa Carlesso who received the Arthritis Society’s Stars Career Development award for her project entitled ‘Improving our Understanding of Pain Mechanisms in People with Knee OA’. Learn more about Dr. Carlesso and her research on her faculty webpage:

https://mira.mcmaster.ca/team/bio/lisa-carlesso

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Announcements Research

Dr. Noemi Dahan-Oliel’s Numerous Funding and Award Success

  • Dr. Noemi Dahan-Oliel has had multiple recent successes and awards:
    • “Measure for the Upper Extremity in Arthrogryposis: Development and Psychometrics” was funded for a multisite developmental clinical grant from the Shriners Hospitals for Children (January 2021 to December 2023; $460,833 USD). Noémi Dahan-Oliel (PI), co-Is: Reggie Hamdy, Chantal Janelle, Laurie Snider, Johanne Higgins, Michelle James, Krister Freese, Dan Zlotolow, Felicity Fishman, Lauren Hyer
    • “Platform Architecture and Machine Learning for Arthrogryposis” was funded for the 2020 SHC & Georgia Tech (GT) Seed Grant Program (January 2021 to December 2022; $150,000 USD). Co-PIs: Noémi Dahan-Oliel & Tony Pan (GT); Co-Is: Srinivas Aluru (GT) Reggie Hamdy, Ghalib Bardai, Frank Rauch, Michelle James, Krister Freese, Harold van Bosse
    • Dr. Dahan Oliel was also awarded ‘Rising Star’ award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) ($60,000 USD over 3 years 2020-2023)
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Announcements Research

Trainee-led Network Team’s Research Highlighted Nationally

Network Trainee Codie Primeau and team including Network PI’s Dr. Trevor Birmingham and Dr. Rebecca Moyer, recently had their publication “Trajectories of perceived exertion and pain over a 12-week neuromuscular exercise program in patients with knee osteoarthritis” highlighted in The Globe and Mail by Alex Hutchinson:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/article-work-through-the-pain-if-you-have-arthritis-it-will-get-better/

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Announcements Research

Joy MacDermid Recognized for Top Research Advances of 2020

Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network NPI Dr. Joy MacDermid and fellow Network collaborators recognized by Arthritis Society’s Top 10 Research Advances of 2020. Read more here: https://arthritis.ca/about-us/what-we-do/research/top-10-research-advances-of-2020

Dr. MacDermid was also was recently named a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Health Outcomes & Knowledge Translation: https://news.westernu.ca/2020/12/crc/

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Opportunities

Trainee Opportunity at University of Calgary

Dr. Ranita Manocha of the University of Calgary is currently seeking one Masters Student and one Undergraduate Student with an interest in clinical biomechanics.

Interested candidates may contact Dr. Manocha directly at: ranita.manocha@ucalgary.ca

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Announcements Grants

Coming Soon: Team Development Grants

One of the Network’s key initiatives to improve rehabilitation research in Canada is our annual Project/Team Development Grant Awards Competition.

Competitions are held annually to provide funding for early stage, high impact MSK research projects, and generates opportunities for trainees and young investigators to gain valuable experience in the field. We aim to encourage new transdisciplinary research initiatives, with an emphasis on collaboration across Canada.