Clinic and Lab Visits

Join us when the Toronto hospitals and research labs open their doors on June 28th! See how they successfully integrate rehabilitation technology into their everyday clinical work and research. Use the opportunity to learn and network with the local experts!

To be able to participate in any of the clinic or lab visits you must register through this link. The visiting registration fee is 20 USD. At the bottom of this page you can check prices for some lab visit combinations.

The number of slots is limited and given away on a first come-first served basis, so please register well in advance.

Lyndhurst Centre, KITE, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute - University Health Network 

Address: 520 Sutherland Dr, Toronto, ON M4G 3V9 Main attraction: Spinal Cord Rehab Time: 11am - 12pm; Groups will visit the center for 1 hour

Tour attendees will visit Canada's largest freestanding Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation facility for individuals with spinal cord injury or disease. In operation since 1945, Lyndhurst admits over 300 inpatients each year and supports over 20,000 outpatient visits across 17 tertiary outpatient clinics. The tour will cover areas focused on clinical care, research laboratories, and translational activities in areas such as balance training, upper extremity functional restoration, bone health, and functional electrical stimulation

At our Lyndhurst Centre site, Toronto Rehab houses Canada’s oldest rehabilitation program for individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and non-traumatic diseases of the spinal cord.  With 60 beds in three inpatient units, our Spinal Cord Rehab Program is the largest of its kind in Canada.  It provides a full range of inpatient, outpatient and follow-up care, including a large number of specialized services and clinics.  

Lyndhurst Centre is also a best practice centre in spinal cord research and home to the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory (REL): a leading research facility devoted to the advancement of knowledge, education and technology in the field of rehabilitation engineering. Since 2001, researchers in the REL have been working to enhance the recovery of people who experience motor impairment due to neurological trauma or disease.

Krembil Research Institute - University Health Network 

Address: 60 Leonard Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 0S8 Main attraction: drug discovery and design, cartilage regeneration/ first stem cell trial in knee, vision rescue/ VR, gait lab Time: 9am to 11am; Groups will visit the labs for 2 hours

The Krembil Research Institute is focused on research programs dedicated to brain & spine, arthritis and vision disorders with a goal to alleviate debilitating chronic disease through basic, translational and clinical research. There are four stops on this tour.

Brain: Alzheimer’s is one of the fastest growing chronic brain diseases in the world. There are no disease-modifying therapies available for patients. This lab visit will showcase how computer-aided drug design can be used in the pursuit of medicinal chemistry approaches that synthesize the testing of novel new chemical entities as putative curative therapeutics for dementias. Host: Dr. Mark Reed

Arthritis: Arthritis is a major cause of disability worldwide. Krembil’s Next Generation Sequencing Platform enables scientists and clinicians to identify how genetic, environmental and other factors induce changes that influence disease progression. This demonstration will showcase our new sequencing platform, and discuss how this tool helps guide the discovery and therapeutic options for patients. Host: Dr. Mohit Kapoor

Vision: We are developing a virtual reality application, Neurofy, which can be uploaded in the Oculus Go VR headset. This device allows scientists to perform cognitive training and to provide different paradigms and visual tasks. We seek to improve and enhance the efficiency of visual detection in specific populations of low-vision patients. Host: Dr. Michael Reber

Mobility: The Motek M-Gait, part of the GRAIL system, is an advanced treadmill that is housed in the Movement Disorders Clinic. The demonstration will show how scientists use the M-Gait for research and rehabilitation purposes in order to understand the physiology of walking in patients with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, cerebellar disease and dystonia. Host: Dr. Alfonso Fasano

University Centre, KITE, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute - University Health Network

Address: 550 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5G 2A2 Main attraction: Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratory (CEAL) https://www.kite-uhn.com/lab Time: 9am to 2pm; Each group will visit the labs for 1 hour

Tour one of the world’s most advanced rehabilitation research and development centre - KITE at Toronto Rehab - a place where new treatments and technologies have been developed for people recovering from and living with disabling injury or illness. You will have opportunities to visit the Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratory, the only facility of its kind in the world. This massive underground lab features the world’s first hydraulic motion simulator. This simulator can be integrated with four customizable testing environments that enable researchers to recreate and evaluate conditions such as ice and snow, different terrains and slopes, and driving conditions involving rain and headlight glare. The tour also includes laboratories that simulate both healthcare (e.g., a patient’s room) and home environments. Together, these world-class facilities allow researchers to safely and accurately measure the difficulties encountered in the real world. The labs are also used to evaluate the impact of new treatments, devices and technologies developed at KITE, Toronto Rehab - University Health Network.

HOLLAND BLOORVIEW KIDS REHABILITATION HOSPITAL

Address: 150 Kilgour Rd, Toronto, ON M4G 1R8 Time: 9am - 10:30am; Each group will visit the hospital for 1.5 hour

Main attraction: Holland Bloorview is Ontario's only inpatient pediatric rehabilitation hospital and provides inpatient and outpatient care for children and youth with disabilities, medical complexity and those who require rehabilitation after illness or trauma. Our clinical programs support clients with a wide range of physical, neurodevelopmental, and intellectual disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy, ADHD, spina bifida, and acquired brain injury. We are a leader in helping young people with disabilities and their families build resilience and achieve a world of boundless possibilities. As an academic health science center, fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, we have a fully embedded research institute, dedicated to conducting innovative, applied and client and family-centred research, focused on creating the most meaningful and healthy futures for all children, youth and families.

Research: Housed at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, the Bloorview Research Institute (BRI) is internationally recognized for its dedication to and leadership in improving the lives of children with disabilities and their families through client and family-centred rehabilitation research. The BRI brings together a multi-disciplinary team that works collaboratively with clinical staff, students, clients, and families to conduct world-class, applied clinical research. The research institute team is comprised of 42 scientists – including clinical investigators and clinician scientists – and over 170 research students and trainees that study the full spectrum of childhood disability. This stop will highlight some of the groundbreaking and applied research being conducted by Holland Bloorview’s world-class scientists. 

Clinical Technology: At this stop you will hear from clinicians and clinical leaders from two departments at Holland Bloorview. Our Communication and Writing Aids teams work with children and youth who are unable to meet their functional face-to-face communication needs through speech alone. Working in a consultative model with community partners and teams of professionals, which include speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, communicative disorders assistants, and assistive technology consultants, the community partners and professional teams strive to meet the communication goals of clients and their families. Our Prosthetics and Myoelectrics teams offer clients a full range of services including assessment, prescription, custom manufacturing, training and repair. We treat clients (who are infants, children, youth and adults) who were born without a limb or with a partial limb, or who have lost a limb due to injury or disease. Our multidisciplinary team works closely with you to make sure your device is designed to meet your individual needs and lifestyle.

Social Justice: Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital has harnessed the voices of our clients, children and youth with disabilities, and launched a national public awareness campaign called ‘Dear Everybody’ focused on challenging and breaking down disability stigma and stereotypes. In Canada, there are at least 400,000 children and youth (ages 0 to 24) with disabilities. Young people with disabilities routinely face the consequences of stigma – staring, whispers, name-calling, social exclusion, bullying, and outright discrimination. Our aim is to get people to take action to break down barriers that face kids and youth with disabilities. Through data and stories told by the kids who are living the experiences created by stigma we plan to educate the public about the role they play in building an inclusive and equitable society that includes young Canadians with disabilities. The campaign touches on topics including employment, friendship, education, and health care. 

Lab visit combinations

If you are interested to visit more than one lab we prepared the below combinations

Please register through this link.