The EDGE Lab – Environments Designed for Gender Equity in Sport & Physical Activity Lab – will explore gendered environments in elite sport, inequities in everyday exercise environments, and inclusive youth sport and physical activity.

Dr. Joanne Parsons, associate professor in the College of Rehabilitation Sciences at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences and Dr. Stephanie Coen, associate professor in the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham, have partnered in the project with a goal to reduce disparities in health and well-being.

EDGE Lab reimagines equitable and inclusive sport and physical activity using what is called a ‘gendered environmental approach’—a concept coined by Parsons and Coen in their landmark paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2021.

This approach takes into account how gendered social factors contribute to inequities in sports injury risk, increasing potential for improving girls’ and women’s sport and physical activity participation, enhancing performance, and reducing injuries.

“EDGE Lab will serve as a virtual locale to support our focus on gendered environments and how they affect athletes’ health and performance. We anticipate the virtual lab will facilitate the growth of our research program through increased visibility and expanded opportunities for developing partnerships,” said Parsons.

One example is a project called More Than Medals, developed in collaboration with the UK Sports Institute, which uses an online multimedia exhibition combining poetry, audio narration and original artwork to share stories of gendered environmental challenges from retired elite female athletes.

“With our international network of community, sport and academic collaborators, EDGE Lab is a hub for developing new and impactful ways to positively improve the landscape of girls’ and women’s sport and physical activity,” said Coen.

Funding for the lab was made possible by two Inclusive Research Excellence Prizes the team was awarded last year from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis.

“The global attention Dr. Parsons and Dr. Coen have garnered for their groundbreaking work is much deserved. The opening of their new virtual lab is a crucial step in addressing the deeply entrenched, pervasive and completely unacceptable gender inequity in sport and injury risk, and opens the way to a more enlightened future for everyone engaging in physical activity,” said Dr. Mark Garrett, physical therapy department head at UM.

“It’s very exciting to see the EDGE Lab develop as a home for Dr. Coen and Dr. Parsons’ important work. The real world impact their work is already having, from women’s professional football to Olympic athletes, can only be furthered by this new virtual home,” added professor Matthew Jones, head of the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham.

For more information on EDGE Lab, visit edge-lab.org

The indoor or outdoor game incorporates elements of tennis, badminton, table tennis and racquetball. It’s played with paddles and a perforated plastic ball on a badminton-sized court.

Invented in the 1960s, pickleball has long been regarded as an activity for retirees. But its popularity with all ages has taken off, and it’s now one of the fastest-growing sports in North America.

When Webber, professor of physical therapy at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, took up the game, she became curious about how much exercise it provides.

“When I started playing pickleball, I wouldn’t say that I had any preconceived ideas about it not being demanding, but I was very impressed with the intensity of play and thought it was worth measuring,” says the professor, who is also a research affiliate with the UM Centre on Aging.

She went on to conduct a study, published in September 2022 in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, on the physical activity intensity of singles and doubles pickleball in older adults. She and her team tracked heart rates and steps in 53 recreational players with an average age of 62 while they played for one to two hours.

“I do a lot of research with gadgets like accelerometers and smart watches, which we had the players wear in this study,” Webber says. “There hadn’t been much written about the physical activity associated with pickleball.”

The study found that those who played singles averaged 3,222 steps per hour of play, while those playing doubles averaged 2,790 steps.

The average heart rates during both singles and doubles play were 111 beats per minute. Accelerometer counts were higher in singles play because of the greater movement required. Heart rates were in a moderate intensity zone for more than 70 per cent of play time in both singles and doubles.

The researchers concluded that the sport can provide a moderate workout for middle-aged or older adults. If an older adult played pickleball for four and a half hours each week, Webber says, they would meet the standard recommendation to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week.

“Interestingly, many people involved in the sport easily play for six to 10 hours per week,” she says.

(Photo: Brook Jones, River City Photography)

The pickleball study made a good-sized media splash. Webber was interviewed by outlets ranging from the Winnipeg Free Press and the Washington Post to the website Pickle Madness.

“I have never experienced so much interest in research I’ve conducted. I think many pickleball players were pleased that our data busted the myth that it’s a low-effort sport, at least for intermediate-level players like those we assessed.

“If our findings encourage participation in pickleball, that’s great because it’s a game that can be enjoyed by people with a large range of skill levels. Compared to many other sports, most people can achieve a satisfying level of success within a short period of time.”

Webber grew up in Pinawa, Man., as a sports lover who particularly succeeded at tennis. “I was fortunate to play on the provincial team when I was a teenager,” she says.

“It was my connection to sports and health that got me interested in physiotherapy. But once I got into it, I realized that there was so much more to it than treating people with sports injuries.”

While completing her bachelor’s in physical therapy at UM, Webber gained an interest in research through assisting Brenda Loveridge [Dip.P.T./68, BPT/71, M.Sc./80, PhD/83], former director of what was then the School of Medical Rehabilitation, who was studying wheelchair training in people with spinal cord injuries.

“That was my first exposure to research, and I saw it as kind of like a puzzle,” she says. “The first part of the puzzle is trying to figure out what you want to study and how you’ll do that, and then you have to figure out what the message is in all the data you collect.”

After working for several years as a physiotherapist in Winnipeg and Ottawa, Webber joined the College of Rehabilitation Sciences as a lecturer in 1997.

Her research, published in journals such as Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation (Physical Therapy), Physiotherapy Canada and Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, largely focuses on physical capacity and activity in older adults, or in people with chronic diseases such as arthritis and fibromyalgia.

She has published a number of studies of physical activity among people with knee osteoarthritis, including those who are waiting for knee-replacement surgery.

Webber says she is still examining data from the pickleball study and hopes to further investigate the sport’s health benefits, particularly in relation to muscle strength and bone density.

“I think there could be some really good benefits for bones and avoiding things like hip fractures as people get older,” she says.

“Participating in the sport may help to maintain bone density beyond what is achieved by going for a brisk walk every day.”

That’s the approach she used when creating a one-day event for people with cognitive and physical challenges at a local geriatric day hospital earlier this year.

While on a first-year clinical placement at the facility, Shiplack was leading an exercise class and remembered a rainbow-coloured ball in the corner of another room. With a couple of minutes to spare in the session, she got the ball and kicked it lightly to one of the clients and then encouraged the group to do the same.

“It was the same cue I gave them for their leg extensions. We only kicked around this ball for two minutes, but what happened in those two minutes was really quite a surprise,” said Shiplack. “People were smiling and engaged. And for the rest of the afternoon they kept thanking me.”

Normally, she said, many of those same clients were struggling with instructions and bored doing the same movements as repetitive exercises.

“I thought this could be a fluke, so I tried it with my other groups. For the rest of the week, I did that at the end of my exercise sessions with each group and had the same results,” she said.

This led Shiplack to create her one-day “Movement for Life” program. “It started with that rainbow ball and got me thinking about how I could tie physical literacy concepts and playfulness into an event.”

Shiplack decided the program had to adhere to three standards. First, it needed to be accessible for all, no matter what their physical or mental abilities. Next, the activities had to allow room for creativity and cooperative play without a “right” or “wrong” component. The activities also needed to incorporate common household items, rather than specialized exercise or sports equipment.

“I didn’t want people to feel that they had to wait until someone could drive them to a store, or until they had money to buy something because that is just repeating a lot of the barriers that come about even with regular fitness,” she said.

The household items included tissue boxes, paper towel rolls, newspapers, coins and baskets. Participants rotated between rooms to design their own playful movements with a guest friend or family member. They were seen kicking facecloths into baskets, using paper towel rolls as baseball bats to hit rolled up balls of newspaper, and playing “mock air hockey” with tissue boxes and coins on a table, among other activities.

Amanda Shiplack and Kelly Codispodi demonstrate a ‘mock air hockey’ game that participants created, using tissue boxes and coins.

“Clients were reaching their arms, and kicking their legs in directions they didn’t know they could. The best part? Everyone was voluntarily participating in the movements,” Shiplack said.

Over 20 people took part in the event, including nine clients, staff, and friends or family members. Shiplack said the response was overwhelmingly positive.

“I had one client say they could use these ideas for family games at Christmas or Easter gatherings with kids and grandchildren,” she said. “This is what I wanted – for our clients to find joy, go home and accidentally do movement that’s fun with friends and family. This fulfills the program’s goal right there.”

Kelly Codispodi, academic coordinator of clinical education for the physical therapy department at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, attended the event and encouraged Shiplack to share the experience at a recent presentation for faculty, staff and students on Bannatyne campus.

“This was a unique experience for a first-year student. I wanted to share what she was doing with faculty and the greater Rady community, because it really highlights that, as a student, you can do things, you can make suggestions and impact change,” Codispodi said.

“A lot of people find exercising boring. But to engage in social connections and have fun with friends and family, I think, will have a lasting approach.”

Shiplack also recently gave a presentation on the “Movement for Life” program at the Collaborating for Health and Wellness Conference, a virtual event hosted by the college in collaboration with the University of Saskatchewan and University of Alberta.

“The results from the event have proved to be more important than I could have predicted. Many people are intrigued by the event and its practicality, compelling me to continue sharing, and hopefully repeat it in the future.”

The name includes translations in both Ojibway and Cree and reflects the reach of the partnership between the college and communities. The venture began in 2017 with five communities and has grown to 12 with the recent additions of Black River First Nation, Northlands Denesuline First Nation and Canupawakpa Dakota Nation. Eleven of those communities were represented at the retreat, which was held at Wyndham Garden Winnipeg Airport, situated on the Long Plain Madison Reserve No. 1.

The partnership’s goal is to bring the college’s services to the communities, based on their self-identified needs and priorities.

In total, about 55 people attended the retreat, including community representatives and faculty and staff from the college. Guests included Elders from the Star Blanket and Cowessess First Nation communities in Saskatchewan, faculty from the University of Saskatchewan and guests from the Riverview Health Centre and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

The first day focused mostly on a discussion on how to help people with lived experience with addiction who are returning to their community. The discussion ended with a draft model of aftercare that could form a collaborative project between interested communities and the Universities of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Michael Redhead Champagne

Emcee Michael Redhead Champagne, an Ininiw public speaker, writer and community advocate, also highlighted some of the partnership’s successes since it began.

Since 2017, over $5 million in projects have happened either directly or indirectly from the partnership, 82 students have come to communities to learn and be of service, 16 faculty have been involved and 10 community members have been employed as part of the projects.

Marlene Head, post-secondary counsellor for Opaskwayak Education Services in Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN), noted that three students from her community enrolled in the college’s occupational therapy program this year. However, she said, that is not enough to meet the demand in the community, or in other First Nations.

Head gave a presentation on a project focused on educating specialists in occupational therapy, physical therapy, school psychology and speech language pathology directly in First Nations communities. The initiative, titled Grow Our Own Specialists through Education (GOOSE), started two years ago from conversations at previous meetings.

Head said there is a dire need for specialists in OCN, and likely other First Nations communities.

“We are starting to see a lot of students with exceptionalities in OCN – somewhere between 30-35 per cent of the population of both of our schools. We have to stop relying on others and meet the demand for specialists ourselves,” Head said, adding there are barriers that make it difficult for some people to move to Winnipeg to train in a health-related field.

“First Nations should not have to ‘fit’ educational institutions, educational institutions have to ‘fit’ First Nations,” she said.

Currently, the initiative is working with the college and UM’s school psychology program in the Faculty of Arts to offer programs via Indigenous cohorts. Head is hopeful that a part-time master’s program in school psychology could be offered to an Indigenous cohort by Summer 2024.

At the retreat, Head invited members of other communities to join the initiative.

“GOOSE will provide opportunities for all, especially those who are working, mature and cannot move to the city on a living allowance,” she said.

“Through this initiative, First Nations can work together in prioritizing programs and open up to community members from different First Nations, which would eliminate duplication and be more efficient.”

The retreat concluded with a celebration highlighted by a spirited performance from the Kinew Metis Council Youth Dancers.

Dr. Reg Urbanowski, dean of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, said the gathering was a huge success, with people sharing their experiences, wisdom and knowledge. 

“It is clear after all this time that there is a connectedness between the communities, the college and the guests who were present. This speaks highly to activities identified in the future.”

Watch a social media video of highlights from the retreat.

The research chair brings together HSC Foundation donors’ contribution of $1.5 million and University of Manitoba donors’ contribution of $1.5 million to support leadership, scholarship and mentorship in the emerging field.

Technology-assisted living uses computer technology, artificial intelligence and other digital tools to increase quality of life. Current efforts are focused on aiding those who are recovering from surgery, suffering from chronic illness, living with disabilities and wishing to remain living independently.

(Left to right) Jonathon Lyon, president and CEO of HSC Foundation, Dr. Jacquie Ripat, endowed chair in technology for assisted living, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Dr. Reg Urbanowski, dean, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, and Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-provost (health sciences) and dean, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

The chair has a five-year term and is the first endowed chair to be based in the College of Rehabilitation Sciences.

Ripat said she believes technology can serve as a powerful catalyst for inclusion, empowerment and participation for people at all stages of life.

“This work is fueled by the understanding that the barriers faced by people are not insurmountable when we harness the potential of cutting-edge technology,” she said.

At the announcement, she pointed to two examples of “living lab” projects currently underway at UM.

One is an outdoor space currently at Fort Garry campus, where technologies that address the mobility challenges people face during the winter can be assessed and developed.

The other is the “smart suite” housed at HSC’s rehabilitation hospital. At the high-tech 850 sq. ft. model apartment, patients can get fitted with leading-edge technology and explore which assisted-technology solutions work best for them. The unit is also used for both teaching and research at the college.

“I believe we are just on the cusp of the technological revolution,” Ripat said. “In the coming years, we can expect to witness the widespread adoption of self-driving cars, increased use of social robots, augmented and virtual reality to address social isolation, and the integration of sensors into homes and even clothing to provide monitoring and support.”

At the announcement, Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-provost (health sciences) and dean, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, said these research advancements and emerging technologies will remove barriers to independent living for those living with health concerns.

“We are healthiest and happiest when we can be in the comfort of our homes, rather than living in institutional care. This is now becoming a reality for many more people than ever before,” Nickerson said.

Jonathon Lyon, president and CEO of HSC Foundation, said research and development in the field of technology for assisted living is urgent and will be a key to unlocking further improvements in diagnosis, medicines and treatments for patients.

“The technology assisted living program is a shining example of what can be accomplished in virtual care, partnership, philanthropy and a commitment to innovation,” he said.

Dr. Reg Urbanowski, dean of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, called the establishment of the chair a “step forward” for the college.

 “I think this is the beginning of many more commitments we will have as we continue to develop our research program in rehabilitation sciences,” he said. “Technology-assisted living research will enable people with activity limitations or participation restrictions to stay meaningfully engaged in their home and community environment.”

“I just really want to make sure that other kids and other adults are able to participate in their lives to the fullest ability without having to worry about whether or not they can breathe,” said Normand, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in respiratory therapy at the University of Manitoba Fall convocation on Oct. 26.

Now working at St. Boniface Hospital, Normand was the recipient of UM’s Gold Medal, which is awarded to the student the highest standing in an undergraduate faculty, college or school. Prior to the convocation, she also received three other awards at a luncheon hosted by the College of Rehabilitation Sciences.

“This is really exciting. It feels like a cumulation of so much work and effort,” Normand said.

Normand was one of 128 graduates at UM’s final Fall 2023 convocation ceremony, held at Bannatyne campus. In total, there were 13 respiratory therapy graduates, as well as 51 from the Master of Occupational Therapy program, 49 from the Master of Physical Therapy program, and 15 from the Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program at the Max Rady College of Medicine.

Dr. Reg Urbanowski, dean of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, congratulated the graduates on choosing a career path as healers.

“You are going to have people who are in pain, people who are fighting for their lives, people who are going to you to reorganize their lives and help them find some meaning in it again. That’s a very strong calling you answered, so I applaud you for that,” Urbanowski said.

Hayley Ward (L) accepts an award from Atoosa Reimer of Sport Physiotherapy Canada’s Manitoba section.

Physical therapy grad Hayley Ward also found it was personal experience that drew her to her “calling.” While she was captain of the Bison women’s soccer team in 2018, she suffered a knee injury that required surgery.

“I got connected to an expert who helped me not only get back to playing but helped me feel stronger and more confident in my ability than I had been previously. After that I knew PT was what I wanted to do for people,” she said.

Prior to the convocation, she received an award for her community involvement and leadership qualities. Currently, Ward is working at a private practice clinic in Winnipeg. She also has a rehab consultant role on a project with Cirque du Soleil.

“I am passionate about growing the profession and have a special interest in high performance, physical literacy-enriched rehab, and bridging the gender gap in sports and movement. In the future I hope to continue growing in the high-performance world and to give back to community through volunteer efforts and continued education,” she said.

Ulyana Omelchenko (R) accepts an award from Brenda Semenko from the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.

Ulyana Omelchenko is a mother of two with a previous degree in philosophy from Simon Fraser University. She turned her focus to occupational therapy after an experience working in art therapy with a woman who had experienced a stroke.

“She could no longer put on her coat, hold the paintbrush or ask for help. I vividly remember her despair,” Omelchenko said. “I saw how important it was for people to have access to do what matters to them, and I wanted to be part of the process that leads people to be able to do that.”

Prior to the convocation ceremony, Omelchenko received three awards, including one from the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. She just started a position at Victoria General Hospital.

“I love that this work is direct client care, that it involves so much collaboration with different members of the team, and that it will provide me with so many opportunities for further growth and learning,” she said.

‘Skills are in demand’ for MPAS grads

Dr. Peter Nickerson, dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, congratulated the MPAS grads, who he said will improve the lives of patients with compassion, honesty and integrity.

He also reflected on how Manitoba became the first province in Canada to recognize and regulate physician assistants when the program was established in 2008.

Miyosha Tso Deh

“Your University of Manitoba education and training has prepared you to be adaptable to any clinical environment, from primary health care to consulting to specialty practice or hospital-based roles. No matter what setting you find yourself in, you will excel. Your skills are in demand, you will make a difference in the lives of your patients and colleagues,” Nickerson said.

MPAS graduate Miyosha Tso Deh said that crossing the stage to receive her parchment was an incredible and unbelievable experience.

“The MPAS program was intense,” Tso Deh said. “There were lots of tears and lots of laughter, but more tears than laughter. It was a lot of hard work, and our class accomplished a lot in two years. The community was incredible and very supportive.”

Tso Deh wanted to become a physician assistant to help close gaps in the health-care system. She is already working as an emergency physician assistant at Grace Hospital.

Watch a social media video of highlights from the convocation ceremony.

The tool, a “smart glove” called iManus, was developed by Dr. Amine Choukou, associate professor at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, along with Tactile Robotics, a local start-up housed at the UM Smartpark at Fort Garry campus.

The light plastic glove, outfitted with multiple sensors, is attached to a patient’s hand and works via Bluetooth and a smartphone app to connect in real time with a therapist virtually in any location. On their mobile device, the patient can see their therapist as well as a computerized image of their hand and the movements they are doing. On the other end, the therapist sees more detailed hand movements and can download a report that provides detailed measurements such as the range of motion of each finger and the wrist.

“The finger sensors pick up the flexion of the fingers and the other sensors pick up the orientation of the device in the room,” Müller said. This enables the platform to automatically calculate the performance of the patient.

The app, he noted, comes with nearly 100 different exercises that clinicians can customize to the patient’s progress. Additionally, the app features video demonstrations of how each exercise should look.

It also includes an in-app texting feature that Müller qualitatively analyzed. This feature allows for direct SMS-like conversations between the patient and therapist.

“It actually works better,” Choukou said. “Normally you’d have to wait a week, or however long, until you see your therapist in person to tell them about problems you are having with your exercises, and by then you might forget. Here, you can text right away. It’s a real-time discussion with your therapist.”

Following a single subject trial and assessment of technical reliability, Choukou said the next step is larger-scale clinical testing, pending funding availability, so the technology can be commercialized.

The studies so far have been focused on people who have had strokes, but the technology can also be used for those who’ve had hand injuries or have illnesses like Parkinson’s or diabetes.

While on a 12-week scholarship from Mitacs, a national training and resource organization, Müller tested the reliability of the glove’s values and measurements, while also observing clinical testing, which was performed by Jasem Banihani, a graduate student in the M.Sc. in Rehabilitation Sciences program at UM.

Müller has been impressed with the technology, which he says aligns with his goal of using biomedical technology to help people with mobility and sensory issues.

“My grandma had a stroke 20 years ago and still has problems moving her upper limbs and doesn’t get out of the house,” he said. “I remember this one time before I started my studies and I was on a hiking trip with my dad and we went up a mountain and I saw this beautiful panorama. I thought ‘I can do this, but what about people like my grandma who can’t anymore?’ That motivated me throughout my studies to develop technologies that help people move and experience nature again.”

The assistive technology program at the Rehabilitation Centre for Children, housed at Specialized Services for Children and Youth in Winnipeg, has not had a formal wheelchair skills training program in place until now.

Second-year OT students Keerthana Kalliat and Lexie Rea developed the day camp, dubbed “Wicked Wheels,” as part of their final advanced fieldwork placement before graduating this fall.

Kalliat, who has a previous degree in rehabilitation science and technology from the University of Pittsburgh, said the camp allows kids a chance to get to know their wheelchairs in a safe and controlled environment. 

“Usually when kids are prescribed wheelchairs, they may receive some basic training on how to use it, but more advanced skills such as getting up a ramp or getting over obstacles are harder to teach during wheelchair appointments. The kids usually must figure this out themselves over time,” she says.

The program was divided into two two-week blocks, where children aged five to 11 would attend day camps at RCC twice a week, led by Kalliat, Rea and two teenage mentors who are also wheelchair users.

The camps included games and activities, including obstacle courses, that would incorporate the skills they learned in fun ways.

“We ended a lot of our sessions with a game of tag, which the kids loved playing,” said Rea, who has a bachelor of health sciences from UM.

“It’s a fun way to use some of the skills they’ve been working on – whether that is propelling their wheelchairs forward, backward or stopping on command. If another kid is coming to tag them, they need to stop and turn quickly.”

(L-R) Keerthana Kalliat and Lexie Rea

Dena Stitz, a senior occupational therapist at RCC, said the program is something she was interested in starting since she started at the centre five years ago.

“We’ve been able to fit wheelchairs and teach kids some basic things, but these kids are all getting eight hours of intensive wheelchair training, which is something we didn’t have time to facilitate,” she said.

Stitz, a UM occupational therapy graduate from 2018, contacted one of her former professors, Dr. Ed Giesbrecht, about six months ago to get the project started.

“This is really quite cutting edge,” Giesbrecht said. “There are a couple of university hospitals in the U.S., some work in Belgium and the Netherlands and a program going on in Quebec City, but that’s really about it in terms of using camps to teach skills to kids.”

As the students wrap up their placement, they are preparing a proposal for RRC to use the program going forward.

Stitz said she’s excited to have the program continue.

“Watching the camps has been amazing. The kids are happy, the caregivers are happy. The skills they are learning are crucial, but the sense of community has been amazing to see,” she said.

Kalliat and Rea both said the sense of community between the kids and the peer mentors was one of the highlights of the program. They said the other big takeaway was the confidence the kids were building in their wheelchair skills.

“A lot of times they were hesitant in the beginning, and by the end they wanted to be the ones to demonstrate those skills,” said Rea. “They were really proud of what they could do, and that was cool to see.”

The event will be presented via Zoom by the faculty’s Office of Equity, Access and Participation (formerly Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and College of Rehabilitation Sciences, along with UM’s Office for Equity and Transformation and Interdisciplinary master’s program in disability studies.

Part of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences’ Listen Up Speaker Series, the one-hour event is a conversation between Dr. Nancy Hansen, professor and director of the interdisciplinary master’s program in disability studies at UM and Cade Kuehl, research assistant with the Office of Equity, Access and Participation.

The conversation will be based on a Canadian Medical Association Journal article published in April 2019 titled “Ableism: The undiagnosed malady afflicting medicine.” A Q&A session will follow.

The article was written by Dr. Heidi Janz, core faculty member and associate adjunct professor with the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta. Janz, who has cerebral palsy, specializes in disability ethics, critical disability studies and research-based drama. She is an active disability-rights advocate at the national level, as well as a writer, playwright and filmmaker. Her creative work focuses on making the experiences of people with disabilities accessible to audiences made up of both people with disabilities and people who are temporarily able-bodied.

The event organizers said ableism excludes people with disabilities from fully participating in, benefiting from, and contributing to society. UM complies with the Accessibilities for Manitobans Act, they said, but needs to do more to identify, address and dismantle ableism.

“The relationship around ableism is not well understood. This conversation is a great place to start,” said Hansen, a graduate of the University of Glasgow and co-editor of the Routledge History of Disability and Untold Stories: A Canadian Disability History Reader.

“We need transformational change,” said Valerie Williams, director, equity, access and participation for the Rady Faculty. “These conversations are the beginning, to raise awareness and see change in attitudes and behaviours.”

The panel discussion is open to all Rady faculty members, staff and learners. See the event listing for more details.

Girls and women are approximately three to six times more likely to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, which can be career-ending for athletes. The researchers, led by Dr. Joanne Parsons, associate professor of physical therapy at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences argued that gendered environments may play a significant role in this disparity in ACL injury rates between women and men.

Parsons co-authored the paper with Dr. Stephanie Coen from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom and Dr. Sheree Bekker from the University of Bath, United Kingdom. The researchers applied for CIHR-IMHA Inclusive Research Excellence Prizes in two out of five categories – “research impact” and “team science” – and won both, valued at $25,000 each.

The team said that embedding gender in the study of ACL injury will heighten the awareness of possible influences outside of traditional biological elements.

Joanne Parsons

“To recognize that this is an important area of research is huge because, up until this point, sports injuries and ACL injuries in particular have been approached very much from a biological or physiological perspective,” Parsons said. “But now our ideas are being talked about everywhere. We don’t even get referenced as much as we used to because it’s now being taken as fact, which is a great thing.”

Their research has since been endorsed by women’s soccer organizations in the United Kingdom, Australia and European Union, and has been featured in international and media presentations, including the Washington Post, Yahoo Sports and Women’s Health Magazine.

“Over the last two years, and especially now with the Women’s World Cup going on in New Zealand and Australia, there has been a lot of attention around our work,” said Parsons. “There are huge numbers of professional women’s soccer players who have suffered ACL injuries, and some of the biggest stars have been sidelined and are unable to play in the tournament, including Canadian athlete Janine Beckie and UK stars Beth Mead and Leah Williamson.”

Parsons said the funding will help the team conduct additional research and collect evidence to further support their model.

“Receiving the CIHR-IMHA Inclusive Research Excellence Prizes is an honour, but also a testament to the innovation and impact of our approach. The conversation around sports injuries has completely changed since the publication of our paper – the focus is now on gender inequity and its far-reaching effects,” she said.

“This funding will allow us to keep advocating for a gendered environmental approach with sport organizations around the globe and here at home, with the ultimate goal of making sport a welcoming, healthy, inclusive space for all.”