The expertise of our rehabilitation researchers at the Kolling Institute has been recognised with a prestigious international grant to investigate the best care for those with a spinal cord injury.
The National Institute of Health in the US has awarded more than $9 million to the overall project, with over $750,000 coming to Australia.
The five-year research project will investigate the impact of length of stay for rehabilitation programs following a spinal cord injury in different countries including the USA, UK, Netherlands, Australia, Brazil and Canada.
It will assess international approaches to the management of these challenging injuries and associated rehabilitation programs.
Professor Ashley Craig from the John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research has been appointed the chief investigator lead in Australia, with support from colleagues Dr Ilaria Pozzato, Dr Mohit Arora and Professor James Middleton.
Australian researchers will assist the chief lead in the USA Dr Allen Heinemann, Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Emergency Medicine and Medical Social Sciences at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago.
Professor Craig has welcomed this prestigious grant delivered through the NIH National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research scheme.