Dr Evgeniya Zakharova-Luneva is a Rehabilitation Medicine Physician at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, where she works within the Queensland Spinal Cord Injuries Service. She is the medical lead for the Skin Management and Rehabilitation Team (SMART), providing specialist care for people with spinal cord injury/disorder (SCI/D) and complex pressure injuries, including those requiring flap surgery. Evgeniya has a strong interest in clinical research aimed at improving outcomes for people with SCI/D. She was awarded a Seed Grant through The Hopkins Centre, Griffith University, to investigate factors contributing to complications following flap surgery in people with SCI/D. The findings of this research informed the development of a Clinical Pathway to standardise postoperative care for people undergoing flap surgery within the Queensland Spinal Cord Injuries Service.

Hirokazu Saiwai, MD, PhD, is an orthopedic spine surgeon at the Spinal Injuries Center in Japan. His clinical practice focuses on spinal cord injury and spinal trauma. His research interests include neurological recovery after spinal cord injury and surgical treatment of spinal disorders.

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Bill Barrable is CEO of the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute a pan Canadian network whose mission is to translate knowledge into implementation and improve the health and autonomy of persons with spinal cord injury. The Institute is accredited by Imagine Canada. He championed the development of accreditation standards for acute and rehabilitation care in Canadian Hospitals. The Institute also supports one of the largest registry data bases for persons with SCI for translational research. Prior to the Institute, Bill was Chief Executive of BC Transplant during which time it was honoured with the Canada Award for Excellence from the National Quality Institute (now known as Excellence Canada). He led the creation of the first online digital signature organ donor registry and also championed the passage of legislation which enshrined the rights of organ donors into the Human Tissue & Gift Act of BC. He is a multiple winner of literary awards for peer reviewed publications, from the U of T Society of Graduates at the University of Toronto. He has been a member of numerous governing boards, including as the founding chair of Health Research BC founded in honor of Canadian Nobel Laureate Michael Smith. He holds a BA from Queen’s University, and a Master of Health Science from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. In 2010, he received the alumni leadership award from the University of Toronto’s Society of Graduates in Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. He was previously named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40.

Helen Patterson is a Senior Physiotherapist in the Acute Spinal Cord Injury Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia. She coordinates the state Tetraplegic Hand Clinic and has extensive experience in the rehabilitation of people after nerve and tendon transfer surgery. She is enrolled in a master’s by research through the University of Sydney’s Kolling Institute aiming to develop a protocol for rehabilitation after nerve transfer in Tetraplegia.