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Forum on International Collaborative Research in Rehabilitation
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(CASE STUDIES: SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS IN REHABILITATION RESEARCH)
Francesco Benvenuti, M.D., Geriatric
Medicine &
Clinical Neurophysiology Specialist, Director
Geriatric Rehabilitation, Italian National Research Institute on Aging
(INRCA), Florence, Italy
Steven J. Stanhope, Ph.
D., Director
Physical Disabilities Branch, National
Institutes of Health (NIH/CC), Bethesda,
Maryland, U.S.A.
Abstract
This international scientific collaboration began in June 1989 when Dr. Benvenuti began work as a visiting scientist in Dr. Stanhopes Biomechanics Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Over the past 14 years, Drs. Benvenuti and Stanhope have developed a strong rehabilitation research collaboration involving a variety of activities and research groups. The fundamental basis of these collaborations lies in the complementary expertise brought by each individual towards a central rehabilitation research theme. Dr. Benvenutis expertise includes managing large, multidisciplinary, clinical research programs focusing on the function and outcomes of people with diseases, disorders, and injuries that result in disability or limitation of function. Dr. Stanhope and the NIH team contribute technical expertise and guidance in measurement and computer modeling methodologies that are designed to explore the pathways that link impairments to functional movement limitations and ultimately physical (dis)ability. Ongoing activities include the development and implementation of research projects, information exchange, joint publications, exchange of scientists, and the development and implementation of training workshops.