From the Guest Editors
We have much to celebrate: The 150th Anniversary of Canadian confederation, veteran contributions to present day social and cultural freedoms, the 7th National SCI Conference, designation of Toronto Rehabilitation Institute as the #1 Rehabilitation Research Institute in the world, the depth and capacity of the Neural Engineering and Therapeutics team, the birth of a new Association, and the contributions of military medicine and veteran advocacy to current day rehabilitation practice!
The 7th National SCI Conference overlaps with Remembrance Day - a time during which Canadians pause to honor civilian and military personnel who lost their lives in armed conflicts. The event has been commemorated since the end of World War I, and predates the initiation of SCI rehabilitation in Canada following World War II in 1945. Please pause with us on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to honor our country’s civilian and military personnel.
This issue of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine represents a unique opportunity to reflect on our history, in order to plot our future as a field. Present day models of rehabilitation care and neurorecovery rates were inconceivable in 1945. Achieving the aims, articulated by civilians, veterans and their families, will ensure our field has impact.
We wish to acknowledge the support and collaboration of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, the Rick Hansen Institute and the Toronto Rehab Foundation, who have supported us in the implementation of our vision for this event and the related special issue.
The 7th National SCI Conference represents 15 years of a sustained effort on the part of the Canadian rehabilitation community to improve care, education and research in the field of spinal cord injury. As co-founders and co-chairs of this event, we recognize this event has had a profound and lasting impact on the field and how we care for our clients today. As a network, we have achieved many advances in rehabilitation through collaboration, and look forward to new discoveries and advances in care for the SCI population beyond 2020. We thank the SCI clients, their families, clinicians and scientists for actively and passionately participating in this journey toward optimal and equitable care of people living with spinal cord injury.
As Canadians, we love our geographic and cultural diversity, canoes, Tim Horton’s coffee, comedy, maple syrup and back bacon. We fundamentally appreciate our resources (forestry, oil and hydro) and adhere to recycling initiatives. During your stay, visit a winery, gather with colleagues for coffee, enjoy pancakes with maple syrup and back bacon at a local inn, or view the Falls at night! We challenge you to make at least one lasting friendship and take home at least one new innovation, process or perspective that will change your behaviour, advance your practice, or accelerate your research!