This year, the European Academy of Childhood-onset Disability Congress was held in Galway, Ireland. Our Director, Professor Christine Imms and PhD Student, Ingrid Sutherland, who is also a clinical nurse consultant, attended the conference.

Christine co-presented in two mini symposiums. The first was with Nora Shields and Karen Brady about the FitSkills project, which looked into the impact of young people with disability participating in their communities alongside peer mentors. The second mini symposium were with collaborators from Sweden, Esteban Guerrero & Mats Granlund and Switzerland, Vera Kaelin, about conceptualising participation in AI applications for paediatric rehabilitation.

Ingrid Sutherland gave three oral presentations about research into support for parents who care for children with medically complex care needs. She also collaborated with an international team to present in a mini symposium on ethical dilemmas in perioperative management of children with cerebral palsy and related disorders. Together with The Royal Children‘s Hospital Neurodisability and Development, Respiratory and Orthopaedic teams, Ingrid delivered an instructional course on new approaches for orthopaedic surgical and multidisciplinary care for children with severe neurological impairment.

There were two exciting outcomes from the event: our collaborator, Professor Nora Shields, was awarded the Fondation Paralysie Cérébrale Lecture Prize. This prize recognises researchers who have made a significant contribution to the field of cerebral palsy.

Ingrid Sutherland was also recognised for her work, winning 1st place in the EACD Early Career Researcher Awards for her doctoral work.

Congratulations, Nora and Ingrid on these outstanding achievements!!

Left Image: Ingrid giving a presentation

Right Image: Nora (right) receiving her award.