The Neural Engineering and Therapeutics (NET) Team is primarily focused on translational research to advance understanding of neurological recovery, neurorehabilitation, and quality of life for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Since its inception, the team has been developing neuroprosthetic systems and assistive technologies, neurorehabilitation tools, techno-behavioral interventions, and clinical assessment tools for individuals with SCI and other neurological impairments. Most of the NET Team's current interventions have potential for immediate clinical application within 5 years. Besides developing therapies, assessments, and new practices, the NET Team has evaluated the impact of these interventions on patients and their families.
In the last 3 years, the NET Team has received ∼$5.9 million in funding and has produced 117 peer-reviewed publications. These projects and publications focus on four key themes: (1) experimental therapeutics; (2) evolving technologies; (3) techno-behavioral approaches; and (4) SCI clinical trials.
Mark Bayley, MD, FRCP(C) Mark Bayley is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and is currently the Medical Director and a Clinician Scientist in the Brain and Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Program of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network. He holds cross appointments at the Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation, the Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery, and the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES). He is an Associate Professor at University of Toronto. His research interests include: neurological recovery, novel models of care, knowledge translation, and development of best practice guidelines. He leads international guideline groups in the fields of arm recovery and cognitive recovery and large randomized controlled trials in knowledge translation and rehabilitation, as Principle Investigator for the Stroke Canada Optimization of Rehabilitation by Evidence (SCORE). Dr Bayley has over 80 peer-reviewed publications and has been invited to speak about his experience in knowledge translation internationally.
B. Catharine Craven, MD, MSc, FRCP(C) Cathy Craven is a Scientist within the NET Team and a Physiatrist within the Brain and Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Program at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her expertise is in the prevention and treatment of multi-morbidity after SCI, with a focus on sublesional osteoporosis and health service provision. Dr Craven is co-lead for the ONF-REPAR funded SCI-IMPACT team. She has been the Scientific Co-Chair of the 1st–6th Canadian National SCI Conference. Dr Craven led the production of the E-Scan Atlas, “Capturing Capacity in Canadian SCI Rehabilitation”. She was the 2013 recipient of the University of Toronto's Achievement Award for exceptional service towards growth and development of the Division of Physiatry. She has published over 90 articles and has been invited to speak internationally regarding sublesional osteoporosis following SCI.
Cesar Márquez Chin, PhD César Márquez-Chin is a Scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network. He holds a doctorate degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico. His areas of research include: neural interfaces, instrumentation for screening and monitoring of neurological conditions, and development of assistive devices. He is especially interested in creating technologies to promote recovery after a SCI and stroke. Dr Márquez-Chin has a long record of developing assistive devices, many of them available commercially. He is a founding member of the Assistive Technology Service at the Brain and Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Program of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network. Dr Márquez-Chin is a pioneer in the use of intracranial recordings in humans to create brain–machine interfaces.
Kei Masani, PhD Kei Masani is a Scientist with the NET Team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network and an Assistant Professor (status) in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto. His research interests include understanding human movement and movement variability from the view of neuromechanical interaction and sensory-motor integration. He received a BSc and a MSc in Physical Education from the University of Tokyo, and a PhD in Physical and Health Education from the University of Tokyo. He has published over 80 articles on related topics. His current research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Kristin Musselman, PT, PhD Kristin Musselman is a new Scientist with the NET Team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network and an Assistant Professor (status) in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include gait and balance training following SCI, and motor control and learning in children. She received a BSc in physical therapy from Queen's University, and a MSc in Neuroscience, and PhD in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Alberta. She was a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. Her current research in SCI is funded by the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation and the Physiotherapy Foundation of Canada.
Milos R. Popovic, PhD, PEng Milos R. Popovic received his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1996, and the Diploma in Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Belgrade, Serbia in 1990. Dr Popovic is the Toronto Rehab Chair in Spinal Cord Injury Research and a Professor in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He is a Senior Scientist and Team Leader of the NET Team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network. Dr Popovic's areas of research expertise include: functional electrical stimulation, neuroprostheses, neurorehabilitation, brain–machine interfaces, physiological control systems, assistive technology, modeling and control of linear and non-linear dynamic systems, robotics, and signal processing. He is also the developer of MyndMove, an innovative and non-invasive device that uses electrical stimulation therapy to promote the restoration of voluntary movements, such as reaching and grasping in individuals paralyzed by stroke, SCI, or traumatic brain injury.
Molly Verrier, Dip. PT&OT, MHSc Molly Verrier is a Senior Scientist affiliated with the NET Team. She did her professional rehabilitation training at the University of Toronto and her graduate studies in Health Sciences at McMaster University. She chaired the Department of Physical Therapy and the Graduate Department of Rehabilitation Science at the University of Toronto between 1994 and 2004 and was the chair of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's Career Scientist Awards Panel. Her current research focuses on the assessment of neurological recovery, both at the neurophysiological and clinical level, and the design of therapies and approaches for neurorehabilitation service delivery to optimize functional recovery. She has published extensively on multiple topics in SCI. Professor Verrier is a member of the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation's SCI Quality of Life Committee and Co-lead of the ONF/REPAR SCIMobility research team, the Ontario SCI Informatics Strategy, and for the RHSCIR 2.0 Walking Measures.
José Zariffa, PhD José Zariffa is a Scientist with the NET Team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network and an Assistant Professor (status) at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. Dr Zariffa received his PhD degree in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering in 2009 from the University of Toronto. He completed post-doctoral fellowships at the International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries (ICORD) in Vancouver, Canada, and at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, where he was supported by Spinal Cord Injury Ontario. Dr Zariffa has authored 21 peer-reviewed journal publications. In 2012, he was awarded the first place award (Research Category) at the National Spinal Cord Injury Conference for his work on the motor control of the upper limb after SCI. His research interests are in neural prostheses, interfaces with the peripheral nervous system, and technology for upper limb rehabilitation after SCI.
6th National Spinal Cord Injury Conference
SCIENTIFIC AND PLANNING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Henry Ahn, MD, PhD, FRCSC
University of Toronto & St Michael's Hospital
Jason Almeida, BSc
University Health Network
Tracy Anthony, RN, BScN
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Cathy Craven, BA, MD, MSc, FRCPC
University of Toronto & Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network
Heather Flett, MSc, B.Sc(PT), BA
Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network
Jillian Fredericks, BAH
University Health Network
Chantal Graveline, BSc PT, MSc, PhD, MBA, CHE
Spinal Cord Injury Ontario
James Guest MD, PhD, FACS
University of Miami
Sander Hitzig, PhD
University of Toronto
Colleen McGillivray, BSc, MD, FRCPC
University of Toronto & Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network
Sylvie Nadeau, PhD, pht
Université de Montréal
Vanessa Noonan, MSc, PhD, PT
Rick Hansen Institute
Milos Popovic, PhD, P.Eng
University of Toronto & Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network
John Steeves, PhD
University of British Columbia & Vancouver Coastal Health
Molly Verrier, Dip P&OT MHSc
University of Toronto & Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network
Gale Whiteneck, PhD, FACRM
Craig Hospital
Jaynie Yang, PT, PhD
University of Alberta