Rehabilitation Institute Of Chicago

Research Program: SRAlab's Research Program is the world's largest physical rehabilitation research enterprise in pursuit of clinical advancement through scientific discovery. In Fiscal Year 2024, the Research Program had approximately 140 research projects underway, funded by more than $170 million in grants and donations from both private and public sources. Its experts regularly publish research in the world's foremost medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and its European equivalent, The Lancet, and it is home to six federal research designations to develop cutting-edge solutions for patients. Biologics Lab and Aphasia Research Integration: We have integrated our biologics laboratory with the rest of the hospital in the aphasia research program. We are now genetically sequencing patients in the stroke rehabilitation program to understand the genetic basis (if any) for response to therapy. This work was funded by NIDILRR. The NIDILRR-funded center is especially for patients with hemispheric stroke - the most debilitating kind. Initial results have demonstrated a biological basis for response to therapy. Based on new studies from adult stem cells in patients with cerebral palsy (CP), we have begun the first-of-its-kind drug repurposing study in these patients in an attempt to relieve painful and disfiguring muscle contractures. Manipulation and Mobility Technologies: A NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center award to fund six new projects researching innovations that are directly useful for patients, especially those who have experienced limb-loss or stroke. Projects include body-powered hand prostheses, use of powered exoskeleton for after-stroke patients, and a new wheelchair to allow both sitting and standing. Research will include both technology development and clinical testing. Health and Function in Physical Disability: This Rehabilitation and Training Center, funded by NIDILRR, was created to develop, evaluate, and implement methods to promote optimal health and function of people with physical disabilities. Through a variety of research, training and dissemination activities, we have begun to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the efficacy and value of various interventions for achieving and maintaining health and function for people with a disability. We have also created a mentoring program to encourage and train the next generation of rehabilitation researchers. Spinal Cord Injury Research: SRAlab operates the Midwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System as designated by NIDILRR. One of only 14 SCI Model Systems nationwide, SRAlab advances spinal cord care through clinical research that identifies new standards of care for the industry. It leads multiple independent and collaborative research projects exploring walking therapy technologies that deliver the most effective treatment to advance ability. This year we completed the first part of a unique pharmacological treatment of chronic spinal cord injury as the only center in the world with this drug. Engineering Research: This project established a NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center, Collaborative Machines Enhancing Therapies (COMET), focusing on advancing technologies that work in partnership with patients and clinicians to enhance gait and dexterity outcomes for individuals with stroke and spinal cord injury (SCI) and other people with disabilities in a real-life rehabilitation setting. This project is based at SRAlab and leads four other major research universities around the United States. Wearable and Mobile Sensors: This center continues the "Center for Smart Use of Technologies to Assess Real World Outcomes" known as (CSTAR). This center serves as a national resource for rehabilitation professionals attempting to measure patient function in objective manners outside of the traditional clinical environment. Our partnership allows us to leverage the collective experience of our clinicians, scientists, engineers, and patients to provide the expertise, instruction, and mentoring to support the smart use of technology. One especially gratifying result of this grant has been the "seeding" of research grants to young faculty at various universities around the country. In the past four years, having invested approximately $700k in pilot projects, our grantees have used the results of these pilot projects to successfully compete for over $7M in federal funding! Rapid Non-Invasive Screening for Covid-19: Controlling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic largely depends on scaling up the testing infrastructure for identifying infected individuals. This project establishes a novel paradigm based on recording the physiological responses elicited by a short (~2 minutes) sequence of activities (i.e. "snapshot"), to detect symptoms associated with COVID-19. We are employing a novel body-conforming soft wearable sensor placed on the suprasternal notch to capture data on physical activity, cardio-respiratory function, and cough sounds. Early results, although preliminary, suggest that a sensor-based snapshot paradigm may be a promising approach for non-invasive and repeatable testing to alert individuals that need further screening.

Medical Education: The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine (Dept of PM&R) is housed within SRAlab, which has one of the largest and most highly respected residency programs in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the country. Resident physicians spend three to four years rotating through the Dept of PM&R, taught by SRAlab physicians who are experts in this specialty, In FY 2024 SRAlab trained 52 residents. The SRAlab medical education program also provides opportunities for fourth year medical students from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine to rotate in a rehabilitation setting to gain experience with spinal cord injury, brain injury, amputee rehabilitation, cancer rehabilitation, medically complex rehabilitation, and pediatric rehabilitation. There are approximately 180 medical students from Northwestern that rotate with us and additional 50 medical students from other medical school nationally that rotate with us. Fellowships: SRAlab offers 5 physician sub-specialty fellowships, funded primarily by donations, in Sports Medicine, Pain Medicine, Pediatric Rehabilitation, Brain Injury Rehabilitation, and Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation. In FY 2024, 13 physician fellows were named at SRAlab, 2 in Spinal Cord Medicine, 4 in Sports Medicine, 3 in Pediatric Rehabilitation, 2 in Brain Injury Medicine, and 2 in Pain Medicine. SRAlab also supports residencies for therapists, nurses and other non-physicians. Prosthetics and Orthotics (P&O) Residency: SRAlab's Prosthetics thotics Center has several prosthetics thotics residency positions which are highly sought after. In FY2024, there were five residency positions, three orthotic residencies and two prosthetic residencies, each lasting 12 months. The American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics, and Pedorthics (ABC) and the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) are working together to implement a combined discipline exam and residency model, therefore Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is transitioning to a future state with four dual-discipline (orthotics & prosthetics) residency positions, each lasting 24 months and each resident gaining 12 months of orthotics experience and 12 months of prosthetics experience. Through these training programs, P&O residents are mentored by SRAlab's certified, licensed professionals and gain exposure to a variety of clinical presentations and pathologies, clinical evaluation, prescription recommendation, documentation, collaboration with the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team, and the actual fabrication of devices. Academy: Since 1954, the organization has offered continuing education programming to help healthcare professionals stay at the forefront of the field. Each year, more than 11,000 students participate in Academy programs, which are taught by interdisciplinary teams of our recognized PM&R specialists and visiting experts from around the world. These programs cover the latest evidence-based rehabilitation interventions, assessments, and discoveries including new courses in Functional Neurologic Disorders, Cognition, Vision and Pediatric Rehabilitation. By incorporating flexible modalities such as on-site workshops, online webinars and courses, and outreach programs, the Academy seeks to bring the latest insights to healthcare professionals in a format that best meets their learning needs. In 2024, the Academy offered 12 courses and more than 190 webinars reaching attendees from all 50 states and 50 countries.

SRAlab's Henry B. Betts LIFE Center is a virtual and multimedia education center providing patient education and consumer health information for patients, families, staff and the community. Everything in the collection relates in some way to people living with a wide range of cognitive and physical impairments, chronic conditions or diseases affecting function. The website enables individuals across the globe to have access to current, peer-reviewed patient education and consumer health resources with real-time updates, printing on demand and a dashboard to save favorite resources for easy access. Resources such as the LIFE Center help individuals, and their families navigate the intricacies of health care and minimize the complexity of relevant health information. Having access to information empowers people to partner with their health care team to make the best choices for themselves, their families and engage in life-long learning. The Center's resources are organized according to eight topic areas: Medical Information and Care, Caregiving and Equipment, Housing and Transportation, Education and Employment, Support and Wellness, Recreation and Leisure, Finance and Law and Inspiration and Hope. LIFE web traffic in FY 2024 averaged 14,712 page views per month, up from 13,023 page views per month in FY 2023, with 176,554 page views annually, up from 156,274 page views annually in FY 2023 from more than 188 countries. This past year, the highest international web activity occurred in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Canada, Philippines, and Germany. In FY 2024, total outreach and service efforts apart from web activity was 7,683 person contacts served which includes programs, classes, special events, resource requests, teaching activities, peer mentoring events and tours for patients, families, staff and the community. Sports and Fitness Program: The SRAlab Adaptive Sports and Fitness Program provides wellness opportunities to people with physical disabilities through sports and recreation as well as an accessible Fitness Center. All services offered in the adaptive sports program, which marked its 43rd year in FY 2024, are free of charge. The fitness programs, which celebrated its 28th anniversary, provides access to a 1-on-1 functional fitness activities and group fitness classes that operate between 6:15 am and 7 pm five days per week for a nominal participation fee. The sports and fitness program is funded primarily by grants and generous community donations and is operated by twelve full time equivalent staff. Additionally, volunteers logged nearly 8000 hours in FY 2024. The Shirley Ryan Adaptive Sports and Fitness Program is considered a national leader in health promotion for people with disabilities. In FY 2024 we continued to expand programming developing new initiatives to promote wellness opportunities for persons living with disabilities. The sports program recorded over 5800 visits by 490 registered participants, and the fitness program continues to provide services virtually, as well as, in person recording 5,600 one-on-one visits by its 230 registered participants in addition to 5,339 class visits, classes are held in person and virtually. A separate program for youth, the Tengelsen Family Foundation Sports for Kids program, recorded 776 visits by 120 Chicago area children with disabilities. Adaptive Sports and Fitness programs continue to develop community partnerships and collaborations that open doors for people living with a disability to lead an active healthy lifestyle. Vocational Rehabilitation Program: Beginning a career or returning to work following an illness or injury is important to a patient's financial security and emotional well-being. It can contribute to the achievement of a productive, independent and fulfilling life. For more than 50 years, the SRAlab has been providing comprehensive vocational rehabilitation services tailored to meet the needs of each client. Services include initial assessment, vocational counseling and guidance, diagnostic evaluation, work trial assessments, job analysis, return-to-work evaluations, job placement, resume writing, job interview workshops and internship coordination. The SRAlab covers the cost of initial assessments, which are not covered by most third-party payers. Patients receive vocational services at nine SRAlab facilities or via telehealth, ensuring that employment assistance is closely tied to community reintegration. During FY 2024 the program served 1132 clients. In the last year, we placed 96 individuals in jobs. Assistive Technology Programs: The Technology Center and the Wheelchair & Seating Center, comprise SRAlab's Assistive Technology Programs. In FY 2024, the Assistive Technology Programs served approximately 2,888 unique patients. The SRAlab Technology Center provides computer access training, smartphone/tablet access, augmentative communication evaluations/treatment, and electronic aids to daily living, including recommendations for home automation and modifications, for people with different or changing abilities. Occupational therapists and speech language pathologists evaluate and recommend equipment for each individual's needs. Through a lending library, or support from manufacturers facilitated by Technology Center staff, patients can try items before purchasing them or borrow them for short-term use due to changing needs. Staff members speak to universities, schools, organizations for people with disabilities, senior centers and the general public. We also provide continuing education lectures in assistive technology through assistive tech conferences and the SRALAB Academy. The center provides 1 to 2 home visits if the client can no longer come to SRALab following their evaluation. We have also integrated the use of telehealth appointments. Staff recommend applying for SRALab charity funds if Patient's insurance is maxed out. The Technology Center served a total of 1422 clients representing 567 inpatients, 393 Day Rehab clients, and 462 outpatients in the past fiscal year. Rehabilitation Engineering staff collaborate with other allied health clinicians to provide consultation, evaluation, and design of individual solutions to aid persons with different abilities to complete activities of daily living with increased independence at home, work, and in the community. Rehabilitation Engineering involves fabricating custom equipment and modifying commercially available equipment and objects to create unique, individualized solutions to help patients navigate obstacles encountered in daily life. SRAlab provides free care for services and products, and provides real-life design experience to students through Northwestern University's engineering design program. The Wheelchair & Seating Center staff evaluate and make recommendations for complex wheelchairs and customized seating systems for patients with significant mobility and postural needs. This includes manual wheelchairs; powered wheelchairs; custom-made and customized seat and back cushions to relieve pressure, prevent pressure sores, and maintain posture; alternative drive controls like sip and puff and head array systems; that help clients maintain or increase their mobility and independence, at home, work, or in the community. During FY24 the Wheelchair & Seating Center continued to use telehealth appointments to serve our patients that were unable to attend an in person appointment. We served a total of 1466 patients, including 824 inpatients and 642 outpatients this past fiscal year.