Special announcement: The Federal Government announced in its latest budget -- Economic Action Plan 2012 -- its commitment to continue to partner with the Rick Hansen Institute to support its work to achieve breakthroughs in spinal cord injury research and care. To read the full announcement, click here.

Dear friends and colleagues:

Welcome to the Rick Hansen Institute website.

The Rick Hansen Institute (formerly the SCI Solutions Network) was established in 2007 with a mission to foster greater collaboration across the SCI community and to accelerate progress towards a cure for paralysis after SCI. Through our core program areas -- Translational Research, Best Practices Implementation and the Rick Hansen SCI Registry -- we have created a powerful network of researchers, clinicians and service providers who are working to improve the lives of the estimated 86,000 Canadians living with a spinal cord injury.

Thanks to the leadership and vision of Rick Hansen, the Rick Hansen Foundation and partnerships with the federal and provincial governments and other organizations, Canada has become a world leader in SCI research and care. And in just a few short years, we have seen dramatic improvements in the SCI landscape at both the hospital and community levels, from improved surgical techniques and care, to shorter hospital stays and reduced secondary complications. Still, we believe our best work is ahead of us.

With the excitement surrounding The Rick Hansen 25^th Anniversary Relay, a national spotlight has been shone on the importance of spinal cord injury research and as the relay comes to an end this May, we look forward to hosting the international SCI research community at Interdependence 2012 Global Conference on Spinal Cord Injury, May 15-17, 2012. Co-hosted with the Rick Hansen Foundation, i2012 will bring together leading SCI experts from around the world to discuss ideas, share findings and learn about latest breakthroughs and innovations in SCI research. Interactive presentations, plenary sessions and workshops have been designed to foster interdisciplinary learning, networking and collaboration among leading researchers and clinicians in acute and chronic SCI interventions, neuroregeneration, registries and data management, multidisciplinary and international collaboration and SCI research commercialization. I invite you to visit www.rickhansen.com/i2012 to learn more about this leading-edge conference and hope to see you there in May.

In the meantime, please feel free to peruse our website for information related to the Institute’s projects and initiatives, and information on spinal cord injury research that might be of interest to you.

Regards,

Bill Barrable
CEO
Rick Hansen Institute