Neuro physios represent University of Melbourne at World Congress of Neurorehabilitation

Prof Gavin Williams, A/Prof Kate Hayward, Matthew Wingfield and Dr Natalie Fini attended the conference. Along with the symposium, platform and poster presentations listed below, there were great opportunities for energising networking with our international colleagues. The sessions at the conference sparked animated discussions and even controversy at times. Hot topics included the gut microbiome’s relationship with brain health, high intensity training for mobility recovery in neurorehabilitation, motivation in neurorehabilitation and learning health systems.

Following the conference, there was a two-day International Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Alliance (ISRRA) Think Tank which A/Prof Kate Hayward and Dr Natalie Fini attended. The vision of ISRRA is ‘a world where global collaboration brings major breakthroughs for people living with stroke.’ It was certainly exciting to be part of this event and the thought-provoking discussions about the future of stroke recovery research, clinical practice and innovation.

Department of Physiotherapy presentations at the World Congress of Neurorehabilitation included:

Invited Symposia:

• A/Prof Kate Hayward: “Multidimensional dose articulation framework and implementation in clinical trials” with colleagues Dr Lisa Tedesco Triccas (UK) and Prof Annemie Spooren (Belgium)

• A/Prof Kate Hayward: “Learnings from a stroke clinical trial network: an Australian historical perspective.” With colleagues Prof Steve Wolf (USA) and Prof Sean Dukelow (Canada)

• Dr Natalie Fini: “Walk the talk: how should we measure and target walking recovery after stroke?” with colleagues A/Prof Sarah Moore (UK), Prof Geert Verheyden (Belgium) and Prof George Fulk (USA)

• Dr Natalie Fini: panel member: “Mentoring matters: importance of female mentorship in neurorehabilitation.”

Platform Presentations:

• Prof Gavin Williams, Sara Gallow, Prof Jenny McGinley et al.: “Exercise-induced symptom exacerbation in moderate-to-extremely severe traumatic brain injury.”

Poster Presentations:

• Prof Gavin Williams, A/Prof Adam Bryant et al: “Ballistic resistance training improves mobility more than usual physiotherapy intervention following traumatic brain injury: a randomised controlled trial.”

• Matthew Wingfield, A/Prof Kate Hayward, Prof Gavin Williams, Dr Natalie Fini, et al.: “Designing post-stroke upper limb motor interventions to optimize recovery: an international qualitative study”

• A/Prof Kate Hayward, Dr Emily Dalton, Sarah Newton: “Prevalence of people presenting with upper limb weakness within the first week post-stroke is shifting.”

• Dr Natalie Fini, Prof Cathy Said, Dr Emily Ramage, Prof Jill Francis et al.: “Stakeholder engagement in codesign of stroke interventions is perceived as valuable and worthwhile.”

• Prof Gavin Williams, Renee Gill, Dr Megan Banky, et al.: “Does the intramuscular injection of Botulinum Neurotoxin-A induce muscular weakness in adult-onset neurological patients with focal spasticity? A systematic review.”

Please contact the team if any of the above topics are of interest to you – opportunities to chat about the science behind and practice of neurorehabilitation are welcomed.