CBC's Bob McDonald and Dr. Geoff Fernie with the Mobility Team. (Photo: UHN)
Chris Hadfield had a special message for attendees and researchers at Toronto Rehab's 9th Annual Research Day: "Keep up the terrific work," he said via his video greeting. "The research work you do at Toronto Rehab is vital."
"Research Day is an opportunity to celebrate our achievements and particularly the achievements of our graduate students," said Dr. Geoff Fernie, Institute Director, Toronto Rehab. "It is also an opportunity for us to practice our skills communicating the findings of our research effectively and efficiently to our colleagues. We recognize that the professionals who care for our patients do not have the opportunity to attend hour-long seminars by our 300 or so faculty and students so we respond to the challenge by presenting our work in one-minute."
Romeo Colobong with assistance from Meg Tennant presents
the People's Choice award-winning Minute Madness. (Photo: UHN)
The focal point of the day is the Minute Madness. This year, 95 researchers presented the essence of their team's research in a minute or less. Some chose to do so creatively through song or skits.
The winner of this year's People's Choice Award for the best Minute Madness presentation was Romeo Colobong with assistance from Meg Tennant for Dr. Pia Kontos' research on Elder-Clowning, which looks at how artistic approaches – such as music and humour – can be used as an intervention for dementia care.
This year, Toronto Rehab introduced The TechnoVation Award, sponsored by SUNY Buffalo, for a technology or device with commercialization potential. Emily King, a PhD student from Toronto Rehab's Technology Team, received the honours for SafeBack – an occupational safety app that estimates the load on the lower back caused by a worker's posture and the weight lifted.
Dr. Geoff Fernie, Amy Hanen, TD Financial Group, Nancy Lawson,
TD Scholarship Coordinator with this year's TD Scholarship recipients. (Photo: UHN)
The TD Grants in Medical Excellence: Scholarship in Rehabilitation-Related Research of Graduate Students with Disabilities were also awarded at Research Day. This year's recipients include: Kaley Roosen, Stefania Moro, Ivan Solano and Meagan Warnica.
Bob McDonald, host of CBC's Quirks & Quarks, was the keynote speaker. He gave insight and tips about how to effectively tell a science story to a general audience.
"My job is to help make sense of science for the general public in an entertaining way," he said. "We need good stories and good storytellers. So if you are going to talk to the media…think about this: how would you explain your science to your dentist?"
This is what Research Day is all about – sharing the science story in a compelling way.
