Autonomic Neurorehabilitation (ANSIG)
Aims
- To raise awareness of a variety of autonomic disorders where neurorehabilitation plays a key role in management
- To facilitate education and training in autonomic neurorehabilitation
- To promote and build a network for research in autonomic neurorehabilitation, including clinicians, human physiologists and researchers
- To lead on the integration across disciplines
- To facilitate collaboration with other Scientific Societies and other international bodies (WHO, association of patients, families and NGOs) working within the field
- Make advances in utilising drugs with pharmaceutical companies (i.e. Droxidopa, botulinum toxin)
- Make technological advances (i.e. Finapres Medical Systems)
- Interface with other SIG
- Spinal Cord Injury - Humberto Cerrel Bazo
- Rehabilitation for Movement Disorders – Rajinder Dhamija
- Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy- Jozef Opara
Contacts
Ellen Merete Hagen
e-mhagen@online.no
Downloads and additional materials
Specialised Techniques
Alternative Medicine
Chair: Tieban Yan, Dr.yan@126.com
Yoga Therapy in Neurorehabilitation
Chair: Pazhani Ranganathan, pazran@hotmail.com
Aquatic Therapy
Chair: Brinda Merchant, merchantbrinda@gmail.com
World Brain Day Webinar 2024
Yoga in Brain Health - Prof Dr Pazhani Ranganathan
https://youtu.be/Ne01kKdk9gU?si=4nttgHxV-o_dmHpZ
Millets in Brain Health - Mrs Bavani Pazhani
https://youtu.be/8EiAGuVYMfo?si=h9rw2ukaZhXgnYU6
Botulinum Toxins and Spasticity
Co-Chairs:
Gerard Francisco
Gerard.E.Francisco@uth.tmc.edu
Jorge Hernandez Franco
jhfranco@medicapolanco.com
Brain Modulation for Neurorehabilitation
This SIG was formed in 2019 and led by DrWayne Feng from Duke University of Medical Center. In April 2024, Professor Nam-Jong Paik from Seoul National University, South Korea, took over as Chair. A quarterly newsletter is published highlighting the important publications, research and technology in the field of brain modulation.
Contacts
Chair
Nam-Jong Paik
Seoul National University
South Korea
njpaik@snu.ac.kr
Secretary
Pratik Chahhatbar MD PhD
Downloads and additional materials
Annual Report 2020
Annual Report 2021
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2023
Newsletter Fourth Quarter 2023
Newsletter Second Quarter 2023
Newsletter First Quarter 2023
Newsletter Fourth Quarter 2022
Newsletter Second Quarter 2022
Newsletter Fourth Quarter 2021
Neurotechnology
Clinical Applications of Advanced Technologies
Chair: Tamsin Reed, Tamsin.reed@hcahealthcare.co.uk
Brain-Computer Interfaces
Chair: Surjo R Soekadar, surjo.soekadar@charite.de
Robotics
Co-Chairs:
Hermano Igo Krebs, hikrebs@mit.edu
Dylan Edwards, dylan.edwards@jefferson.edu
Clinical Pathways
Objectives
- To promote evidence-based practice in neurorehabilitation by critical appraisal of, and alerting to, clinical evidence that is relevant for clinical decision-making in neurorehabilitation
- To provide and disseminate evidence-based practice recommendations for clinical pathways in neurorehabilitation
Contact
Thomas Platz
t.platz@bdh-klinik-greifswald.de
Mayowa Owolabi
mayowaowolabi@yahoo.com
Downloads and Additional Materials
Cognitive Neuroscience
The aim of this SIG is to promote an integrated approach to cognitive disorders focusing on cognitive interventions from the acute to chronic stages, including clinical and biomedical evaluations, indications for behavioural and pharmacological treatments, and evidence-based approach to treatment of cognitive disorders. Offer of teaching courses, with special intention for physicians; from introductory to advanced courses.
Contacts
Prof. Stephanie Clarke
Service de Neuropsychologie et de Neuroréhabilitation
CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland
Prof. Gilles Rode
Université de Lyon
INSERM-UMRS 534, Bron, France
Downloads and additional materials
Communication Disorders and Dysphagia
Communication Disorders
Chair: Apoorva Pauranik, apauranik@gmail.com
Dysphagia
Chair: Irene Battel, irene.battel@gmail.com
Community Based Neurorehabilitation and Service Development
Community Based Neurorehabilitation
Chair: Alessandro Giustini, alessandro.giustini@ntc.it
Neurorehabilitation Service Development
Chair: Sabahat Asim Wasti, WastiS@ClevelandClinicAbuDhabi.ae
Epilepsy and Neurodisability
Chair: Guhan Ramamurthy, guhanramamurthy@gmail.com
Dementia
The missions of this special interest group are to:
· Identify efficacious interventions for improving cognition, behaviour and everyday functioning in people living with dementia, and to prevent cognitive decline in frail people
· Identify effective screening tools, with the potential to improve large-scale assessment in the senior population, and early-onset neurorehabilitation
· Develop interdisciplinary guidelines for promoting high-quality research on the neurorehabilitation of dementia
· Build a platform for information and exchange among all professionals interested in neurorehabilitation of dementia within the WFNR
Organize dedicated sessions at the WFNR meeting and other international conferences.
Contacts
Professor Arseny Sokolov
arseny.sokolov@chuv.ch
Valeria Manera
valeria.manera@univ-cotedazur.fr
Sara Isernia
sisernia@dongnocchi.it
Downloads and Additional Materials
Developing World Forum
Objectives
- To educate and to encourage research and quality training
- To develop low-cost therapies
- To help inform policies and collaboration
Contact
Nirmal Surya
nirmal_surya@yahoo.com
Downloads and Additional Materials
Acute and Early Neurorehabilitation
Early Neurorehabilitation
Co-Chairs:
Karin Diserens, Karin.Diserens@chuv.ch
Peter Lackner, peter.lackner@gesundheitsverbund.at
Mild and Severe Brain Injury
Chair: Caterina Pistarini, caterina.pistarini@icsmaugeri.it
Headache and Migraine
Health Policy and Economics in Neurorehabilitation
Mission Statement
To address the multifaceted challenges of integrating health policy and economics into the realm of neurorehabilitation, ensuring that therapeutic strategies are not only clinically effective but also economically viable and policy compliant.
Objectives
1. Research Integration: To foster collaboration between economists, policymakers, and neurorehabilitation professionals, aiming to integrate clinical insights with economic and policy considerations.
2. Policy Advocacy: To advocate for informed health policies that prioritize and streamline neurorehabilitation interventions based on both clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
3. Education and Awareness: To conduct seminars, workshops, and conferences that highlight the importance of considering health economics in neurorehabilitation decision-making.
4. Resource Development: To curate and distribute resources that assist professionals in understanding the economic implications of their clinical decisions.
Outcomes
- Publication Series: Regular publications discussing the intersection of health economics, policy, and neurorehabilitation, aiming to inform practitioners and policymakers.
- Workshops & Seminars: Annual or bi-annual events, in partnership with global organizations, bringing together thought leaders in the field to share insights and best practices.
- Resource Database: A centralized database for health policy and economic materials relevant to neurorehabilitation, updated periodically with new research findings.
- Policy Recommendations: Development of a set of policy recommendations to be shared with health departments and governmental bodies globally, promoting the best practices in neurorehabilitation from an economic perspective.
Who should join?
- Neurorehabilitation experts: Clinicians, therapists, and other professionals keen on understanding the broader economic and policy implications of their work.
- Health economists: Those focused on understanding the cost structures, benefits, and implications of interventions in the realm of neurorehabilitation.
- Policymakers: Individuals involved in health policy development and implementation, looking for evidence-based insights from the field of neurorehabilitation.
- Researchers: Academics and practitioners aiming to bridge the gap between clinical practice, economics, and policy in the domain of neurorehabilitation.
- Patients and advocates: Individuals or families affected by neurological conditions, looking to understand and advocate for economically sound and policy-compliant therapeutic strategies.
Contact
Stefan Strilciuc
stefan.strilciuc@brainscience.ro
Brain Health and Human Functioning
Objectives
To raise awareness of the burden of neurological diseases using common international classifications e.g ICF, ICD, ICHI, and the use of assessment tools such as WHO DAS 2.0 in neurological conditions
To strengthen the development of ICF-based rehabilitation plans that comprise a common language, understood by team members, patients and their family, and to implement the use of ICF and WHO DAS 2.0 as valuable tools in neurorehabilitation
To promote neurorehabilitation as part of the Universal Health Coverage at global levels, and as health interventions to reach SDGs in accordance with the UN Conventions of the Rights of People with Disability, and the WHO and its relevant strategies and programmes such as Rehabilitation 2030 and Brain Health Unit programmes
Contact
Matilde Leonardi
Matilde.Leonardi@istituto-besta.it
Klemens Fheodoroff
klemens.fheodoroff@me.com
Downloads and Additional Materials
Motivation in Neurorehabilitation
Motivation is increasingly considered the missing link towards augmenting therapy intensity in day by day neurorehab work.
There is a growing body of literature aimed to deepen our knowledge on neurobiological, psychological and clinical issues of motivational processes in healthy individuals and, to a lesser extent, in patients after acute brain injury.
Nevertheless there is only a scarce interconnection and transfer between the various fields, a lack of consensus regarding basic aspects like definitions and assessment tools and no comprehensive implementation into neurorehab processes.
The Special Interest Group on Motivation aims to become a platform for sharing and exchanging knowledge soaring in all these fields in order to transfer it into strategies to leverage patients motivation and hence adherence to therapies during neurorehabilitation.
Contact
Dana Boering
danaboering@gmail.com
Multiple Sclerosis and Demyelinating Disorders
Objectives
• To generate epidemiological data for multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating
disorders to determine trends and variables for long-term outcomes
• To formulate domain specific early rehabilitation programmes and guidelines for low
cost models of multidisciplinary rehabilitation.
• To evaluate appropriate outcome measures, optimal intensity, frequency, cost and
effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation
Contact
Abhishek Srivastava
29abhi@gmail.com
Juerg Kesselring
juerg.kesselring@kliniken-valens.ch
Downloads and Additional Materials
Annual Report 2023
Minutes of Meeting, December 2022
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Neurological Conditions and Driving
Objectives
To provide a network and resource for health professionals for the promotion of safe driving by individuals with a neurological condition
To provide recommendations for good practice in assessing and screening patients who want to start or return to driving
To facilitate research into fitness-to-drive, and encourage and support collaborative research studies across different countries
Contact
Carol Hawley
C.A.Hawley@warwick.ac.uk
Downloads and Additional Materials
Annual Report 2020
Annual Report 2021
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2023
Neurologic Music Therapy
Objectives
- To advocate, disseminate, and support clinical neuroscience research in music applied to neurorehabilitation
- To advocate, disseminate and conduct training in Neurologic Music Therapy for neurorehabilitation professionals
- To maintain a presence for Neurologic Music Therapy Practice and Research at WFNR meetings, conferences, and in Flying Faculty programmes
Contact
Chair
Michael Thaut
michael.thaut@utoronto.ca
Downloads and Additional Materials
Annual Report 2020
Annual Report 2021
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2023
NeuroPalliative Care
Contact
Dr Navita Purohit
drnavita.nv@gmail.com
Peripheral Neurorehabilitation Problems
Neuropathic Pain
Chair: Marta Imamura, marta.imamura@fm.usp.br
Plexopathies
Chair: Jan Groothuis, Jan.Groothuis@radboudumc.nl
Neuropharmacology
Neurophilosophy and Ethics
Objectives
To encourage cooperation between neuroscientists and philosophers concerning, in particular, the field of neural correlates of consciousness, free will/making decision mechanisms, emotion/empathy/mirror neurons, ethics/behavior, semiology.
To strengthen the development of bi-directional linkage between philosophical theories and neuroscientific hypothesis concerning in particular the epistemological/ontological approach in the
different fields of neurophilosophy.
To promote meetings, teaching activities and research about the impact of neuroscientific evidence concerning plasticity, brain lesions and degeneration, recovery mechanisms on philosophical theories and vice versa, in particular in the field embodied cognition and neuroethics.
To develop educational programs, meetings and editorial activities concerning ethics problems in neurorehabilitation field, bioethics perspectives and relevance of Artificial Intelligence in clinical neurosciences field
Contact
Dr Heinrich Binder
heinrich.dr.binder@outlook.com
Dr Giorgio Sandrini
giorgio.sandrini@unipv.it
Sabahat Asim Wasti
WastiS@ClevelandClinicAbuDhabi.ae
Downloads and Additional Materials
Scientific advisory committee: Patricia Churchland (US), Stephanie Clarke (CH), Paolo Fusar-Poli (UK, I), Markus Gabriel(G), Volker Hömberg (G), Georg Northoff (Canada), G. Riva(I), Giacomo Rizzolatti (I), Surjo Soekadar (G), Mark Solms (South Africa), Tomaso Vecchi (I)
Neurophilosophy Annual Report 2023
Neurophilosophy Annual Report 2022
Neurophilosophy Annual Report 2021
Neurophysiology and Neurorehabilitation
Objectives
- To provide members with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and expertise in the field of neurophysiology through regular meetings, presentations, and discussions on the latest research findings, new methods, and emerging trends.
- To create a platform for members to network with fellow and senior neurophysiologists, researchers, and professionals in related disciplines. Through workshops, conferences, and collaborative projects, the group aims to encourage interdisciplinary interactions, exchange ideas, and facilitate research partnerships that can lead to innovative discoveries and advancements in the field.
- To promote the dissemination of neurophysiological research findings among the scientific community of neurorehabilitation.
Contact
Murat Zinnuroğlu
muratz@gmail.com
Downloads and Additional Materials
Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
Objectives
To encourage and support multidisciplinary clinical practice and research into the rehabilitation of people with cognitive, emotional, psychosocial and behavioural deficits caused by brain injury or neurological conditions (both progressive and nonprogressive) across the lifespan
To improve the care of survivors of brain injury and their families through the translation of clinically relevant research
To support the future of neurorehabilitation throughout the world and to provide a forum of communication between those with an interest in the subject
Contact
Caroline van Heugten
caroline.vanheugten@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Downloads and Additional Materials
Annual Report 2020
Members Activities 2019-2020
Annual Report 2021
NR-SIG Newsletter 4 2022
Annual Report 2022
Newsletter 2023
Annual Report 2023
Newsletter 2024
Neurosurgical, Reconstructive and Restorative Rehabilitation
Objectives
- To promote mutual understanding among acute-care neurosurgeons and neurorehabilitationists
- To develop and prove treatment algorithms
- To promote the path to ‘normal’ life for individuals with neurological conditions
Contact
Maximilian Mehdorn
hmmehdorn@me.com
Downloads and Additional Materials
Annual Report 2020
Annual Report 2021
Stroke and Organisation for Psychological Research into Stroke (OPSYRIS)
Stroke
Chair: Wayne Feng, wayne.feng@duke.edu
Organisation for Psychological Research into Stroke (OPSYRIS)
Chair: Stephanie Rossit, S.Rossit@uea.ac.uk
Paediatric Neurorehabilitation
Objectives
- To highlight the special features and needs in the rehabilitation of children with lesions or diseases of the central nervous system; our interest comprises both congenital lesions and lesions acquired later in childhood
- To provide a platform for information and exchange for all those interested in the neurorehabilitation of children and adolescents amongst the WFNR membership
- To organise paediatric sessions at each WFNR Congress; platform presentations and posters
Contact
Andrea Martinuzzi
andrea.martinuzzi@lanostrafamiglia.it
Professor El Oumri
aa.eloumri@gmail.com
Downloads and Additional Materials
Posture, Mobility and Falls
Objectives
Contact
Dominic Perennou
DPerennou@chu-grenoble.fr
Vice-Chair
Klaus Martin Stephan
klausmartinstephan@web.de
Downloads and Additional Materials
Click here for further information
Rehabilitation for Movement Disorders
Objectives
- To create awareness about the importance of rehabilitation for Movement Disorders
- To stimulate the development of research protocols and guidelines on rehabilitation and Movement Disorders
- To involve and integrate all the healthcare professionals with an interest in the field of Movement Disorders favouring integration and development of multidisciplinary approaches
Contact
Rajinder Dhamija
dhamijark@gov.in
Downloads and Additional Materials
Annual Report 2020
Challenges of Managing Parkinson's Disease During COVID-19
Rehabilitation in Parkinson's Disease Annals of Movement Disorders
Spinal Cord Injury
Objectives
- To promote specific topics of scientific interest and clinical practice related to restorative neurology, non-traumatic SCI, aging, incomplete SCI syndromes, dysphagia, functional corrective surgery, SCI associated with severe brain injury, sexuality, communication of the prognosis, by collaborating with SIGs of interest
- To promote and disseminate specific knowledge for healthcare professionals and patients, through the development or participation in courses, guidelines, medical consensus, masterclasses, workshops, symposiums, congresses, podcasts and/or didactic material
- To facilitate and promote the development of an international network by facilitating in cultural exchange with members of low or medium income countries
Contact
Humberto Cerrel Bazo
hcb57@yahoo.com
Downloads and Additional Materials
Spinal Injury Awareness Day
Annual Report 2020
Annual Report 2021
Telerehabilitation
Objectives
- To stimulate the use of telerehabilitation
- To support the use and spread of telerehabilitation in developing countries
- To disseminate theoretical and operational knowledge on telerehabilitation
Contact
Annie Hill
A.Hill2@latrobe.edu.au
Carl Froilan Leochico
cfdleochico@stlukes.com.ph
Downloads and Additional Materials
Survey on Telerehabilitation
Women in Neurorehabilitation
Purpose
To promote women in neurorehabilitation to achieve excellence and equity in their professional lives
Objectives
1. To promote greater representation of women in neurorehabilitation
2. To serve as a platform for communication and collaboration among women in neurorehabilitation
3. To promote career development of women in neurorehabilitation through mentoring and networking
4. To encourage women to create a professional climate that supports career advancement, recognize achievements, and foster inclusivity.
5. To foster specific female-centric approaches to neurorehabilitation research, practice and philosophy
Contact
Sangeetha Madhavan
smadhava@uic.edu
Jyutika Mehta
jmehta@twu.edu
Downloads and Additional Materials
Annual Report 2022
Young WFNR
Objectives
1.Spark and promote interest in pursuing a clinical or research career in neurorehabilitation in early-career health care professionals and researchers.
2.Assist early-career professionals and researchers in neurorehabilitation to build a network by establishing connections to peers and senior professionals in neurorehabilitation.
3.Promote education in neurorehabilitation and make educative resources accessible to members.
4.Promote research interest in members and foster innovative projects. Aid early-career researchers in neurorehabilitation gain visibility.
5.Improve equity for early career healthcare professionals and researchers from LMIC.
Contact
Maria Alejandra Spir Brunal
maria.spir@udea.edu.co
Downloads and Additional Materials
Formation of a new Special interest group
Find more information about setting up a new SIG and how to apply.