Western University PhD candidate and Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network trainee, Codie Primeau recently presented some of his thesis work at the Canadian Student Health Research Forum held in Winnipeg, MB from June 13th to 17th, 2022.
Codie was selected as one of 9 Western doctoral students to represent the university at the conference which aims to connect over 100 students from across Canada from various fields of health/basic science research.
During the National Poster Competition, Codie was the recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Honourable Mention Award for his project titled: Association of Changes in Gait Biomechanics with Clinically Important Improvements in Pain and Subsequent Total Knee Replacement after High Tibial Osteotomy.
Congratulations to MSK Rehab Research Network NPI, Dr. Joy MacDermid (Western) who was recently awarded the 2022 International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT) Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 IFSSH, IFSHT & FESSH Combined Congress.
Among the ten awardees of 2022, Dr. MacDermid was the only Canadian to receive the honour.
“This award was created to recognize any person, alive or posthumous, who has made an outstanding contribution to hand therapy internationally. The enormous contribution of the award winner will influence generations of Hand Therapists to come and benefit countless patients into the future. The IFSHT Membership, therefore, expresses its sincere appreciation and gratitude to our pioneers for enriching our passion, Hand Therapy.” – IFSHT
We are pleased to announce the return of our annual Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network Trainee Travel Awards. 2022 will mark our fourth Trainee Awards competition and up to $15,000 in total funding is available to:
foster the development of future leaders in MSK health rehabilitation research
enhance the number of trainees involved in transdisciplinary musculoskeletal health rehabilitation research;
support the career advancement of trainees; and
support each trainee financially
Call for Applications: May 17, 2022
Deadline: Rolling applications through December 23rd, 2022 or until a total of $15,000 has been awarded.
First funding decisions will be made by June 24th, 2022, subsequent decisions will be made within two weeks of receiving application.
Description
The purpose of the award is to assist with travel expenses for trainees to attend a conference related to MSK rehabilitation research at which they are presenting their research project (via poster, oral or other form of presentation). Note that funding may be subject to abstract submission and approval at the conference that you plan to attend.
This allows the Network to fund a much larger number of trainees this year than traditional awards and provide additional professional development opportunities not covered by their current funding.
Funds Available
In 2022 the Network will be offering a total of up to $15,000 in three tiers of travel stipends based on traveling distance:
Within Province or Virtual Presentation – $500
Neighbouring Province (ex. Ontario to Quebec, Alberta to BC) – $1,000
National or International Travel – $1,500
These awards are intended to cover conference travel and registration expenses to attend a conference at which the trainee’s research project is presented. Applicants will submit expenses or a proposed budget of CIHR-eligible costs and awarded stipends will be given based on incurred/budgeted expenses to the maximum of each funding tier above. Applicants will be eligible for a maximum of one (1) award per calendar year.
Eligibility Criteria
outstanding potential to contribute to musculoskeletal health rehabilitation research
registered as a full-time graduate student, postdoctoral fellow or clinician scientist in training
accepted to an accredited program
supervised (mentored) by a Network Member
engaged in research that is clearly relevant to musculoskeletal health rehabilitation
Expectations
indicate which conference(s) you wish to attend to present your research, including travel distance
include a proposed budget and justification of funds for travel to a national or international conference specific to MSK rehabilitation research
provide details on the research topic for the conference at which you will attend and present your project
submit reporting, as requested by network training and mentoring group
The iMED (Innovative Medical Engineering Developments) lab at the University of Toronto headed by Prof. Ervin Sejdic is looking to hire a postdoctoral fellow.
The successful candidate will be engaged in research relating to a novel medical device to predict falls in older adults. The candidate will work in a unique interdisciplinary team of engineers and clinicians as well as our industry partner.
The key responsibilities include the data acquisition and analysis of physiological signals across multiple hospital sites, along with contributing to our patenting and commercialization efforts.
The candidate should have PhD in electrical/biomedical engineering or a related engineering/scientific discipline with strong data science skills (e.g., signal processing, machine learning).
Applicants should send their CVs to Prof. Sejdic (ervin.sejdic@utoronto.ca) along with copies of academic transcripts, sample journal publications, and contact details for at least three referees.
Registration and abstract submissions for the upcoming 2022 Canadian Bone and Joint Conference are now open! And we are thrilled to announce that this exciting virtual conference will be FREE for Rehab Network trainees!
The MSK Rehab Research Network is covering the cost of registration for our trainee members. Trainees can contact rehabnet@uwo.ca before registering to receive a discount code that will cover your full registration fee!
The Canadian MSK Rehab Research Network is thrilled to once again co-host this unique and exciting virtual conference that will include an interactive panel hosted by Dr. Joy MacDermid on “MSK Innovation Factory” – co-creation of technology-enabled interventions for MSK health. We strongly encourage our members to attend as we introduce the MSK Innovation Factory initiative at Western University and its concepts; followed by a series of presentations from MSK Rehab Research Network members on their projects in development.
The conference will include Live-streamed Oral Presentations and Pre-recorded Video Open Poster Sessions focused on several topic areas including (but not limited to):
Inflammation and Auto Immune Diseases
Impact of Arthritis on youth and their care transitions
In addition to an exciting and interactive scientific line up, this year’s conference will once again include a Young Investigator’s Forum – a full block of offerings organized by trainees just for you. Interactive sessions include Insider View of Tri-Council Scholarships, No Time to Be Human: Making Room for Self-Care in Graduate School, and Academia and Beyond: Career Opportunities After Graduate School.
Full details and registration can be found here: https://cbjc.ca/
In partnership with Western’s Bone and Joint Institute and the Canadian Network for Mobility Research (CaNMoR), we are pleased to announce the Save the Date for the 2022 Canadian Bone and Joint Conference (CBJC) to be held April 21 & 22 2022.
This event will once again be preceded on April 20th by the Canadian Bone and Joint Young Investigator’s Forum, a forum organized by trainees for trainees, which will include trainee-focused workshop offerings and presentations.
At this time, we are planning to deliver workshop components of the event in a hybrid manner, but for this year all Keynote, Plenary and Poster presentations will be continued to be delivered virtually.
Conference themes will include but may not be limited to: Human & Technology Interaction for Health; Rehabilitation; Inflammation & Autoimmune Diseases; Phenotyping, Context and Design Principles; and Juvenile Arthritis, Care, & Transitions.
Confirmed speakers for this year’s events include:
Carl Blobel, Cornell University
Natoshia Cunningham, Michigan State University
Irene Davis, Harvard University
Natasha Gakhal, University of Toronto
Danielle McCormak, The Arthritis Society
Dana Orange, Rockefeller University
Christopher Overall, University of British Columbia
Brian Pietrosimone, University of North Carolina
Angelo Ravelli, University of Genoa, Italy
Evelyn Rozenblyum, University of Toronto & Hospital for SickKids
The conference website is being updated as details are confirmed. The abstract submission details will be distributed in the near future with the submission portal opening soon. Check back frequently for updates here:
The MSK Rehab Research Network is pleased to announce our partnership with REHAB+
What is REHAB+?
As part of McMaster University’s McMasterPLUS suite of services, REHAB+ provides “one-stop” access to pre-appraised evidence to support clinical decisions. REHAB+ provides a new path to address the key question in this era of evidence-based health care: what is the current best evidence available to support clinical decisions?
The MSK Rehab Research Network has partnered with REHAB+ to provide our members free access to the site for the latest pre-appraised research publications. Our website will also host a continuously updated feed of publications from our membership, so you can stay up-to-date on the latest research from our members.
REHAB+ incorporates the McMasterPLUS email alerting system and searchable database of best evidence from the health care literature of particular interest to rehabilitation professionals.
Users with interests in a specific clinical problem or treatment can search the database for articles dating back to 2007, or they can be sent email notifications when new publications are posted in their specific area(s) of interest.
All articles posted in REHAB+ have already passed critical appraisal and the system can provide access to the newest research available.
Get Involved and Gain Early Access
REHAB+ also provides the opportunity to gain first access to new publications and review an article’s clinical relevance and newsworthiness. Anyone interested in gaining early access to new research, or providing valuable feedback on new publications to the research community, will have articles tailored to their research interest sent directly to their inbox.
Providing reviews on new publications ensures that REHAB+ is a pipeline for high quality research to improve clinical decision making and, ultimately, patient outcomes. You can join the site and select your alerting preferences here: https://plus.mcmaster.ca/rehab/Account/Register
If you are interested in acting as a reviewer for the latest articles, please contact: rehabnet@uwo.ca
Congratulations to Network NPI Dr. Joy MacDermid (Western) and team for their recent publication that addresses the prescription of opioids after carpal tunnel surgery.
Congratulations to Network trainee Darren Mazzei of the University of Calgary (supervisor Dr. Deborah Marshall) for recently being recognized by The Arthritis Society for his work to advance arthritis research.
Darren’s research has the honour of being selected as one of the ‘Top 10 Arthritis Research Advances of 2021’ on “Investing in exercise for osteoarthritis”.
Researchers reviewed the current evidence on strategies to manage osteoarthritis (OA) with education, exercise and weight management. They found that supervised exercise programs for people with hip and knee OA provide health benefits and are cost-effective.
In contrast, education on self-management strategies, exercise, or diet did not appear to be as cost-effective on their own and may be more helpful when used in combination with a structured exercise program.
