Atena Roshan Fekr is an Affiliate Scientist at the KITE Research Institute and an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. Her main research focus is on developing smart technologies that enable people, especially seniors, to live safer and more independent lives. This includes researching three main sub-topics: slip, trip and fall prevention; Program to Accelerate Technologies for Homecare (PATH); and technologies to prevent the spread of infection.
What started with a modest products page on our website selling custom KITE masks has turned into an online store that now also carries mugs, notepads and pens. Perfect for any home or work office, our products are available in different packages. Below are the options:
Since 2005, The KITE Research Institute at Toronto Rehab, with TD Bank Group, has supported the active involvement of people with disabilities in rehabilitation-related research. Graduate students with disabilities often encounter financial barriers due in part to the high cost of adaptive aids, technologies and resources needed to enable their studies. Thanks to TD Bank, people with disabilities have had a better shot at becoming active participants in planning and conducting rehabilitation research. Meet this year’s scholarship recipients, Miracle and Anna.
In Canada, 18 per cent of the population are seniors, and with this number growing every year, older adults need better, safer and more reliable ways to age in their own homes. That's why, we've been researching and developing modern technologies and solutions that offer peace of mind to caregivers and improve quality of life for seniors aging safely at home.
The UHN IDEA committee is working to develop support programs for staff and trainees to promote inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). The Staff and Trainee subcommittee is conducting a brief survey to gather information on areas that staff and trainees would like addressed in their respective research communities.
For Drs. Milos R. Popovic and Sukhvinder Kalsi-Ryan, research, development and commercialization go hand-in-hand. As the founders of MyndTec and Neural Outcomes, as well as leaders at KITE, their goal is to get rehab technologies and programs to the masses. Commercialization not only helps patients recovering from injury and illness, it also makes research sustainable in the long-run.
Town halls are a great opportunity to bring our entire community together, share important updates from across the institute, report success stories and provide answers to your questions. Some of the topics of discussion will include finances and staffing, return to work, working with our new foundation, as well as health and wellness resources.
Dr. Eugene Chang is Canada’s first fellowship-trained cancer physiatrist, better known as a rehabilitation doctor, with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. It was his own life-changing experience with cancer as a first-year resident that revealed a gap in the healthcare system around rehabilitation services for cancer patients, and inspired him to get special training. Here’s what he says, in his own words, about his experience with cancer and how he helps others with their recovery.
Dr. Cathy Craven has agreed to serve as the Medical Director for the Spinal Cord Rehab Program after being Medical Lead for the program for many years.
When Zoey McKenzie had a concussion in 2018, she never thought her symptoms would last three years after her diagnosis. As it turns out, women take longer to recover than men and can experience symptoms such as neck pain and reproductive health interruptions. Our scientists are investigating concussions from a gender and sex-based perspective to understand why brain injuries are worse for women and create better opportunities for care for patients like Zoey.
Launching the Research Volunteer Pool in June 2020, the Central Recruitment team helped create a new avenue to recruit participants for research studies.
Fernie, the former research director of The KITE Research Institute at Toronto Rehab and the Creaghan Family Chair in Prevention and Healthcare Technologies, is one of only 22 people named to the Order for the 2019 calendar year.
This year’s unsung hero award has been a central figure in the development and success of the Rehabilitation Engineering Lab (REL) at Lyndhurst for over 15 years. Last year, he was instrumental in the uninterrupted functioning of the lab despite renovations at the hospital and COVID shutdowns.
Walter and Maria Schroeder's $20 million gift is funding research treatments for neurological conditions, allowing us to discover therapies designed to restore function and advancing virtual rehab programs.
They look like something out of a sci-fi movie, but the research that’s happening in these structures is far from fictional. Using state-of-the-art technology, scientists at KITE, the research arm of Toronto Rehab, are trying to better understand why people fall and what tools, devices and better design can be used to prevent people – old and young – from suddenly dropping to the ground and injuring themselves.
The Unsung Hero Staff Recognition Award is bestowed on an individual or group who assists in nurturing a positive corporate culture and helps our research teams operate more effectively. The deadline to nominate your unsung hero is December 7.
In partnership with ARHT Media, we're thrilled to announce the launch of a holopod display at our facility, which has great potential to deliver quality virtual healthcare throughout the province, especially to remote communities.
Get to know the people behind the incredible KITE restart team, and how their work has helped make sure we all stay safe on-site and move research forward.
COVID-19 is capable of being a lot more severe than we think. Many survivors have had strokes, kidney failure, breathing issues, swallowing problems and more. At KITE, we are designing rehabilitation programs and technologies to help COVID survivors regain their strength and their health, and adjusting our care model to adapt to the changing needs of today's patients.
Since the start of the pandemic, we have expanded our telerehab programs to give more patients access to high-quality care when they need it most.
Partnership between KITE and Toronto-based textile technology company Myant will soon make remote care as easy as putting on a pair of underwear.
Through music, people living with dementia can form relationships with others and express themselves in creative and joyful ways. Music is Life crafts a melodic journey that aims to inspire and create a shift in the current approaches to dementia care to one of relational caring, through musical engagement among a community living with dementia at the Dotsa Bitove Wellness Academy.
A new wearable device, researched and developed right here at KITE, is reminding healthcare workers to wash their hands, reducing hospital-acquired infections and saving lives.
Dr. Iaboni is a geriatric psychiatrist, clinician-researcher, professor and medical lead at our Specialized Dementia Unit. Now, she is also adding KITE Scientist to her already impressive title.
Former UHN trainee Dr. Luka Milosevic joins the Krembil Research Institute as their newest Scientist to collaborate with CRANIA and The KITE Research Institute.
Five post-doctoral, doctoral and masters’ students at Toronto Rehab who were nominated by their principal investigators are being honoured for their leadership, community service and academic excellence.
The partnership aims to validate the efficacy of solutions built on the Myant Platform which use textile garments to assess conditions and deliver therapy to the patient’s body. This new mode of connecting patients to care solves the fundamental challenges of distribution, adoption and diagnosis that have limited the proliferation of telehealth in the past.
These students are being recognized for stopping memory deterioration in its tracks, promoting road safety in older adults, restoring hand and arm function in patients with stroke or spinal cord injury, preventing dangerous slips and falls and increasing mobility.
The Geoff Fernie Impact Awards are presented to three KITE rock stars whose work and research have made a difference at Toronto Rehab and the world at large. Post Docs, Doctoral and Masters’ students are eligible to apply.
The first ever 3MT competition is open to all scientists, staff, and trainees to attend and participate. This is a chance to hear from exciting keynote speakers, cheer your colleagues, win awards, and learn about the latest research happening at our institute.
With support from the Government of Ontario, funding of $5,000 has been granted for COVID-related projects that are already underway that support older adults or people with disabilities and need funding to continue. We will be selecting two projects that will receive $2,500 each.
In their own words, here’s how some of Kite’s trainees, staff, scientists and leadership are coping with the dramatic changes brought by COVID.
Our community is truly going above and beyond with their selfless acts of kindness and compassion. We are calling on all staff, scientists and trainees to nominate your COVID-19 hero at Kite, so they can get the proper recognition they deserve. Self nominations are welcome.
After months of planning to bring Doors Open Toronto to the CEAL facility at KITE, the organizing committee has decided to cancel this event.
Given the increasing concerns around COVID-19, the International Conference on Aging Innovation and Rehabilitation (ICAIR) has been postponed to a later date (to be announced).
Watch the Nature of Things episode where David Suzuki discovers what it means to age well during his visit to CEAL, where he interviews Dr. Jennifer Campos, takes DriverLab for a spin and walks the streets of StreetLab.
On May 23-24, our very own CEAL will be a major attraction at Doors Open Toronto, one of the city's most anticipated events. As part of the event, we're expecting several hundreds of people to walk through our doors, and need your help to show them around.
Supporting research that focuses on the causes of brain injury, and the development and evaluation of rehabilitation treatments to improve recovery, this chair also enhances efforts to prevent head injuries, and to improve quality of life for people living with these injuries.
ICAIR 2020 is open to all students, scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs from around the world. Admission is free to all Kite/ RSI students and TRI affiliates. Individuals from all universities and colleges from around the world get a special discount. We look forward to seeing everyone at ICAIR 2020 in Toronto!
Congratulations to Dr. Susan Jaglal, Dr. Yana Yunusova and Dr. Kristin Musselman, scientists at The Kite Research Institute, who won all three awards in the Faculty of Medicine teaching category.
At this year's Kite Research Institute Holiday Potluck, senior systems analysit, Darek Wojtowicz received the Unsung Hero Staff Recognition Award from our Director Dr. Milos R. Popovic.
Dr. Sukhvinder Kalsi-Ryan, Rocket Family Upper Extremity Clinic Lead at Toronto Rehab, Lyndhurst Centre, works closely with patients with tetraplegia – some degree of paralysis in all four limbs – to restore their upper limb function.
For the ninth year in a row, UHN is number one on RE$EARCH Infosource Inc.’s list of Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals. The list of research hospitals in the country has been compiled annually since 2011.
One of Toronto Rehab's most anticipated fundraising events, Rocket Ride for Rehab, featured two sold out spin sessions and raised a record $334,000 for the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. The Kite Research Institute team led by Dr. Milos R. Popovic was a proud supporter of the event.
Six presenters from across UHN, including Bastien Moineau from The Kite Research Institute presented their groundbreaking research to a room full of people in a TED-talk style event meant to educate and inform them about the impact of science in our world.
The majority spinal cord programs and services are designed for men. UHN’s Dr. Cathy Craven says current delivery models need to flex to better reflect society’s gender roles.
Moving forward, the third Tuesday of every September will be dedicated to recognizing the hard work of rehabilitation professionals across Toronto.
New algorithms developed here at the Kite Research Institute can predict falls in patients who are at most risk of falling, and prevent them.
Graduate students with disabilities often encounter financial barriers due in part to the high cost of adaptive aids, technologies and resources needed to enable their studies. In 2005, TD Bank started funding scholarships at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute to support graduate students with disabilities. Meet this year’s scholarship recipients.
Mild traumatic brain injuries can lead to symptoms that interfere with work, such as headaches or trouble focusing, and some of these symptoms can last for months.
TORONTO-KITE and the Ontario government are working together to recognize students whose research is making a difference in the lives of people living with the effects of disability, illness and aging. The Focus on Accessibility Awards, which honour the unique achievements of our young researchers, were introduced at KITE Research Day in 2019. Winners of the awards play an instrumental role in Ontario’s culture of accessibility by developing innovative yet practical designs, technologies, programs and solutions to improve quality of life. The awards are financially supported by the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility.
The HERO Glove could help individuals unable to extend their hands to carry out daily tasks, such as grasping a water bottle (pictured), while also promoting rehabilitation of the hand after injury.
UHN is unveiling a new research institute designed to take the science of rehabilitation to new heights. Based at Toronto Rehab, the new institute, which will be known as KITE at UHN and replaces the current TRI Research Institute, will synchronize the organization's academic direction, strategic priorities, research programs and commercialization efforts in the field of complex rehabilitation science...
Blood tests to measure 'bad’ cholesterol are common and used to identify the risk of a heart attack. Now researchers are exploring whether other types of fat molecules (ie, lipids) found in the blood can provide new insight into heart health...
When Reno Candido first became an outpatient of Toronto Rehab's Rocket Family Upper Extremity Clinic's Lyndhurst Centre location, he had no movement below his shoulders. The 51-year-old became quadriplegic almost two years ago, after slipping and falling on ice. After eight months of MyndMove therapy, a product created by Toronto Rehab researchers that delivers functional electrical stimulation (FES) to paralyzed muscles, he has already increased function in his shoulders, allowing him to move his arms back and forth...
Some cooked, while others test drove a car, practiced suturing or packaged medications using candies. These were just some of the diverse activities undertaken yesterday by about 200 Grade 9 students – all sons and daughters of employees – who participated in UHN's 12th annual Take Our Kids to Work Day. "We went and saw the computers and technology that is used here and I just thought it was so cool," Miriam Rees-Sloman said at Toronto Western Hospital (TW)...
