AMTA Participates: Briefing on NIH Research Plan

AMTA Participates:  Congressional briefing titled: NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation – Moving the Field Forward, held on Capitol Hill - December 8, 2016.  

The briefing was organized by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and was co-hosted by the DRRC and several DRRC member organizations, including the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, American Occupational Therapy Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, American Therapeutic Recreation Association, American Music Therapy Association, Association of Rehabilitation Nurses, Brain Injury Association of America, and the United Spinal Association.

The Congressional briefing was moderated by Justin Moore, PT, DPT, Chief Executive Officer of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), and featured remarks by a panel representing patient, researcher, and government perspectives.

Dr. Alison Cernich, Director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR), part of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the NIH, shared her Center’s newly revised 2016 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Plan on Rehabilitation, aimed at advancing and energizing the field of rehabilitation research. The plan is a five-year roadmap intended to address a broad range of rehabilitation research science

Dr. Rebecca Craik, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Arcadia University, served as Chair of the National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research for the NIH, and was a co-chair of the NIH Blue Ribbon Panel on Rehabilitation Research. She provided background on medical rehabilitation, and shared the findings of the Blue Ribbon Panel that set up the work by NCMRR to revamp its Research Plan, establish a dedicated line of funding for NCMRR research, and improve research coordination.

Josh Rouch, a patient who sustained a traumatic brain injury and received rehabilitative care, shared his personal story of injury and recovery. Mr. Rouch described the great strides he has made through rehabilitation services and supports that have allowed him to advance his education and career.

The Disability and Rehabilitation Research Coalition (DRRC), is a coalition of over 25 national non-profit organizations committed to improving the science of rehabilitation and disability in order to maximize the return on the federal investment in rehabilitation and disability research with the goal of optimizing the health and function and quality of life of persons with injuries, illnesses, disabilities, and chronic conditions
 

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