| | A new, three-year grant from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation will support the development of an innovative smartphone app designed to reduce loneliness among people living with spinal cord injury (SCI). Led by Alex Wong, PhD, DPhil, assistant director of the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, the technology will help to identify individuals at risk for social isolation and deliver personalized, psychology-based supportive messages. | | A new fellowship program is helping Shirley Ryan AbilityLab nurses turn their clinical insights into impactful research. Funded through an internal grant, the program provides mentorship and protected time for nurses to build research and scholarly writing skills. | | | Meet Our CROR Collaborators | | For more than four decades, Ashley Craig, PhD, has combined psychology and rehabilitation research to improve the physical and emotional well-being of people living with SCI. Now, as head of the John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research at the University of Sydney, Dr. Craig also serves as the Australian lead for CROR’s international exploration of inpatient rehabilitation length of stay for people with SCI, further extending his global impact on rehabilitation outcomes. | | |
Eric Lipp has spent more than 25 years advocating for accessible travel for people with disabilities. After experiencing paralysis from a spinal cord tumor, he founded the Open Doors Organization, creating innovative programs that help airlines, hotels and transportation services better accommodate travelers with mobility challenges. He now is partnering with CROR on a study to improve air travel accessibility.
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The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Rehabilitation Measures Database (RMD) has achieved a major milestone with the addition of its 600th measure summary! The most recent summary of our growing database is the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination.
The database has grown immensely in the last few years, thanks in part to the efforts of Kevin Fearn, CROR project coordinator. His work includes coordinating student contributions, communicating with educators and writing and editing measure summaries. Kevin has worked on the RMD since March 2023 when there were just over 500 measures in the database.
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After 35 years at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Deborah Crown, CRC, LCPC, is retiring — leaving a legacy of leadership across clinical care, systems innovation and research. From guiding the organization’s transition to an electronic medical record platform to supporting major initiatives within CROR, she helped connect care, operations and outcomes in meaningful ways.
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Researchers at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Northwestern University and Indiana University want to learn more about the air travel experiences of people with physical disabilities. We are seeking participants for focus groups and a study that involves documenting a trip that includes air travel through photographs and interviews.
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Researchers at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab are recruiting participants for MENTOR. This online wellness program is tailored to each individual's goals and includes free exercise equipment, access to adapted fitness classes, cooking demos, mindfulness training and a supportive community.
Choose either:
- MENTOR Live: a structured, 8-week program where you join a group and live instructor.
- MENTOR On Demand: a flexible, 12-week option you can take at your own pace.
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CROR director, Allen Heinemann, PhD, has been honored with the Division 22 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association (APA). This prestigious award recognizes rehabilitation psychologists who have made exceptional, sustained contributions to the field through research, clinical practice, public service and education.
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For more than 50 years, the National Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Database has been the cornerstone of spinal cord injury (SCI) research in the United States. Since 1973, it has captured detailed information from thousands of people with traumatic SCI, helping researchers track long-term outcomes, improve rehabilitation care and guide new discoveries. In this episode, we explore how the database works, what makes it unique and how its insights continue to shape the future of SCI care and recovery.
Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube.
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CROR Outcomes is produced by the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. It is supported by grants from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grants 90DPK0007, 90DPHF0012). The contents of this newsletter do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR.
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