Rehabilitation Workshops Held in China and India

In late January and early February 2018, a team of six University of Leeds academics embarked on a week long trip to Asia to enhance their understanding of the needs of people with disabilities in India and China. The trip was funded by the UK Government's Global Challenges Research Fund with a view to informing future funding proposals to take the best research in the UK and apply it to challenges in these two countries.

The academic team comprised of -

Prof Shane Xie and Dr Zhiqiang Zhang , who specialise in robotic rehabilitation technologies.
Dr Samit Chakrabarty who works in systems neurophysiology, with interests in rehabilitation technology.
Drs Louise Jennings and Raelene Cowie who both work in the area of replacement joints with particular interest in low cost joint replacement.
Dr Manoj Sivan who is an associate clinical professor in physical and rehabilitation medicine.

University of Leeds partnered with colleagues at the Wuhan University of Technology in the Hubei province of China, and the Vellore Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu, India to organise an event in each country. The workshops pulled together participants including surgeons, researchers and representatives from patient support groups to discuss the challenges faced in those countries. The outputs from the workshops will be better targeted research proposals to the GCRF scheme which are designed to deliver established needs working with the contacts forged through the trip.