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Launching the Manipal-ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Rehabilitation Collaboration

The ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University School of Physical & Occupational Therapy is delighted to announce the launch of the Manipal-ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Rehabilitation Collaboration (MMRC) between the Manipal Academy of Higher Education’s College of Health Professions (Manipal, India) and the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy (SPOT) of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University, Faculty of Medicine (Montreal, Canada).

Dr Arun Maiya, Dean of Manipal College of Health Professions, Dr. Laurie Snider, Associate Dean and Director, School of Physical & Occupational Therapy and Dr. Raghu Radhakrishnan Director, International Collaborations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education

This initiative was formalized through the signing of an Annex to our Memorandum of Understanding during the visit by SPOT’s Director and Associate Dean, Laurie Snider OT, PhD to Manipal Academy of Higher Education University in February 2020. The signing was also an opportunity to celebrate existing collaborations between researchers from SPOT and Manipal and to make plans for expanding the scope of our current collaborations. 

Manipal College of Health Professions faculty with Associate Dean and Director, School of Physical & Occupational Therapy, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University, Laurie Snider OT, PhD and Caroline Storr OT, MBA during their recent visit to Manipal for the signing of the Annex to the Memorandum of Understanding

The MMRC builds on many years of collaboration between researchers from the two institutions, not only in the areas of rehabilitation but also in the area of infectious disease through the Manipal-ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Global Health Program for Infectious Diseases, which was established in 2016.

The first shared rehabilitation research project was initiated in 2010 with a collaboration between Professors John Solomon PT, PhD (Manipal), Mindy Levin PT, PhD (ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ SPOT) and Philippe Archambault OT, PhD (ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ SPOT) focused on the use of virtual reality interventions for stroke rehabilitation. This project led to a second, ongoing study which includes a multi-centre randomized controlled trial to improve arm recovery after stroke using brain stimulation paired with arm exercises and performed on a virtual reality platform.

Philippe Archambault OT, PhD, in Manipal working with a patient and virtual reality to promote functional rehabilitation of arm movements (2012).

More recently, Professors Arun Maiya PT, PhD (Manipal), Matthew Hunt PT, PhD and Raphael Lencucha PhD (ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ SPOT) and Sébastien Jodoin PhD (ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Law) received funding through the Steinberg Fund for Interdisciplinary Global Health Research to pursue their work with persons with disabilities who experience a heightened risk of being harmed or wronged in situations of disaster or crisis. Specifically, this study looks at the experiences of who have been affected by flooding and landslides, and where a disability-inclusive disaster response approach has been initiated.

Additional research projects are currently being developed among researchers and students from Manipal and ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, in the areas of pulmonary rehabilitation and telerehabilitation.

Along with research activities, the partnership will also support bilateral exchanges of faculty and students, project seed funding, and shared knowledge exchange activities including symposia and webinars. Everyone involved in the MMRC is looking forward to building strong future collaborations.

Stay up to date with these activities by checking in here and on the SPOT Global Health Rehabilitation Initiative (GHRI).  The School of Physical and Occupational Therapy gratefully acknowledges ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Global Health Programs' support of the MMRC.   

Mindy Levin PT, PhD, working with a student on a virtual reality platform in her Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital lab, as part of a multi-center randomized controlled trial to improve arm recovery after stroke using brain stimulation paired with arm exercises (2017). Another arm of the multi-center randomized controlled trial is being conducted at Manipal.

Patient using virtual reality platform in the lab of John Solomon PT, PhD, Manipal (2019).

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