2019 AusCP-CTN Hot Topics in Cerebral Palsy Research Forum

The AusCP-CTN CRE aims to foster and develop current and future leaders in cerebral palsy research and clinical practice. Our vision for the future workforce for children with cerebral palsy is national capacity building comprising individuals with expertise in more than one key area of research and/or training (basic science / neuroscience, epidemiology, clinical/health services initiatives, and translation / implementation).

Hosted at the Monash Health Translation Precinct, Clayton, Melbourne, AusCP-CTN invites you to join us at the "Hot Topics in Cerebral Palsy Research Forum - Monday 21 - Tuesday 22 October 2019" to hear some of the work being done to improve early diagnosis and intervention for children with, or at risk of, cerebral palsy.

Full Program

Invitated International Keynote Speakers:

Prof. Bernard Dan MD is a paediatric neurologist and professor of neurophysiology and developmental neurology in Brussels (Université libtre de Bruxelles), and is Director of Rehabilitation at Inkendaal Hospital. His clinical and research interest includes motor control, particularly in cerebral palsy and neurogenetic conditions. He serves as editor-in-chief for Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. He was the recipient of the 2012 John Stobo Prichard Award. 

Prof. Alistair Jan Gunn is a Paediatrician-scientist who has conducted groundbreaking basic research into ways of identifying compromised fetuses in labour, the mechanisms and treatment of asphyxial brain injury and the mechanisms of life threatening events in infancy. He has helped to develop a range of new, clinically relevant chronically instrumented fetal sheep paradigms to support translation of the team’s findings to clinical practice, leading to the studies that helped to establish mild cooling as the first ever technique to reduce brain injury due to low oxygen levels at birth.

Prof. Laura Bennet is a perinatal physiologist with a specialist interest in preterm fetal and neonatal behaviour, and cardiovascular and neurophysiological adaptations to common in utero insults such as hypoxia and infection, as well as the development of treatment strategies and biomarkers to identify the at risk baby.

Prof. Yannick Bleyenheuft PT PhD, is a Professor at the Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium and honorary attached to the Center for Cerebral Palsy Research of the Teachers College, Columbia University, NY, USA. Yannick Bleyenheuft has training in physiotherapy and rehabilitation, with a complementary degree in neuroscience and a PhD in movement sciences dedicated to the motor control of children with cerebral palsy (CP). She is currently holder of the first Chair fully dedicated to intensive neurorehabilitation in children with CP and has developed HABIT-ILE, an intensive intervention combining bimanual coordination with a constant lower extremity and/or postural stimulation, which has been successfully applied both in children with unilateral and with bilateral CP. 

Day 1:   Monday, 21 October

• Early Detection and Neuroimaging in CP:  Dr Jurgen Fripp (CSIRO), Dr Alex Pagnozzi (CSIRO), Dr Christian Redd (CSIRO)
• Pre-Clinical and Neonatal Clinical Trials:  Prof. Euan Wallace (Monash University), A/Prof. Michael Fahey (Monash Children's Hospital), Dr Atul Malhotra (Monash Children's Hospital), Dr Courtney McDonald (Hudson Institute of Medical Research), Yana Wilson (Cerebral Palsy Alliance), Dr Stacey Ellery (Hudson Institute of Medical Research)
• Higher Degree by Research 3-Minute Thesis:  Research students from Monash University showcasing their scientific findings. 
• Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE) Training:  details TBA.

Day 2:   Tuesday, 22 October

• Clinical Trials:  Prof. Roslyn Boyd (The University of Queensland), Prof. Yannick Bleyenheuft (Université Catholique de Louvain), Prof. Iona Novak (Cerebral Palsy Alliance), Dr Sarah McIntyre (Cerebral Palsy Alliance) 
• Early Detection:  A/Prof. Alicia Spittle (The University of Melbourne), Prof. Arie Bos (University Medical Centre of Groningen)
• Infant Clinical Trials:  Prof. Roslyn Boyd (The University of Queensland), Dr Cathy Morgan (Cerebral Palsy Alliance), Dr Katherine Benfer (The University of Queensland), Dr Leanne Sakzewski (The University of Queensland), Dr Koa Whittingham (The University of Queensland)
• Child Clinical Trials:  Dr Leanne Sakzewski (The University of Queensland), Prof. Bernard Dan (Université libtre de Bruxelles)

Registration - FULL

For more information about the Forum, please email auscpnetwork@uq.edu.au.