3:15 p.m., Jan. 28, 2011----The Delaware Rehabilitation Institute (DRI) will hold its inaugural research symposium on Thursday, Feb. 24, at the University of Delaware's Clayton Hall.

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The mission of the new institute is to find innovative and improved ways to help people recover from injury and disease by bringing together biologists, clinical scientists, engineers, and policy experts to critically address the issues faced by those with disabilities.

Thomas S. Buchanan, George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is serving as the institute's first director.

The launch event will include research overviews from UD faculty on stroke, osteoarthritis, childhood obesity, biomedical engineering, rehabilitation robots for infants, and ACL injuries. Other sessions will cover work being done by researchers at UD's partner institutions in the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance as well as at other organizations in Delaware and beyond.

Keynote addresses on the future of rehabilitation research will be delivered by Stephen Katz, director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), and Zev Rymer, vice president for research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

In addition, UD Provost Tom Apple will speak about the future of health sciences at UD; Senior Vice Provost Mark Barteau will talk about DRI and UD research initiatives; Kathleen Matt, dean of the College of Health Sciences and executive director of DHSA, will address DRI's relationship to the alliance; and Bethany Hall-Long, professor of nursing and state senator (D-Middletown), will highlight health policy and Delaware.

“The inauguration of DRI is an excellent opportunity for us to not only showcase the tremendous breadth of ongoing work in this area, but also set the stage for future collaborations among researchers and practitioners from a variety of disciplines and healthcare settings,” Buchanan says.

“We believe that the integrated multidisciplinary approach we're taking will provide the ideal environment in which to educate the next generation of rehabilitation scholars and practitioners."

For more information about the event, contact Danielle Nolen, DRI business manager, at 302-831-6404 or [dnolen@udel.edu], or visit the DRI website.

Article by Diane Kukich