Top honours for UQ physiotherapy researcher passionate about stroke rehabilitation

4 November 2014

The dream to help develop new and innovative rehabilitation strategies for people after stroke has secured a UQ physiotherapy researcher a prestigious fellowship from the American Australian Association.
Mr Michael Bergin, PhD student in the UQ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, has been awarded the 2014 UQ American Australian Association Post-Doctoral Fellowship.

UQ Physiotherapy School
Study physiotherapy at the University of Queensland

Mr Bergin will travel to the USA to collaborate with Associate Professor Maurice Smith in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University to conduct ground-breaking research into how the human brain learns and perfects new motor skills and controls movement.
Mr Bergin said this research could change the future of stroke rehabilitation in Australia by providing a more detailed understanding of how the brain works.
The condition, he said, cost Australia an estimated $5 billion in 2012, a figure primarily borne by individuals ($2.2 billion) and the Australian Government ($1.5 billion).
“Movement is fundamental to human existence, being the only way we have to interact with the world around us; however, two-thirds of the 420,000 Australians living with the effects of stroke in 2012 were unable to fully participate in the community due to neuromotor impairments,” Mr Bergin said.
“Despite the enormity of the problem, neurorehabilitation after stroke is sub-optimal, due in part, to our poor understanding of motor learning and adaptation.
“My research in healthy individuals is a critical step in extending our knowledge of motor learning so it can be applied to understanding neurological disease.
“Ultimately, this research will contribute to the development of new treatments to help improve the lives of people after stroke.”
Mr Bergin said he strategically sought to collaborate with Dr Smith because of his extensive experience, expertise and research which involved a unique combination of theoretical, computational and behavioural neuroscience that is not available in Australia.
“All studies conducted within Dr Smith’s laboratory use a robotic arm that allows study of motor learning in novel situations unlikely to have been experienced outside the laboratory,” Mr Bergin said.
“However robotic arms are only available in a handful of laboratories around the world and experience in this laboratory will allow me to develop specialist knowledge and expertise.”
Mr Bergin’s research at Harvard will bring new skills and trans-disciplinary collaborations between Harvard and the University of Queensland.
Mr Bergin will be presented his fellowship at the American Australian Association’s benefit dinner in New York on Nov. 5.

About UQ Physiotherapy School

The UQ Physiotherapy School offers a learning environment and has assessment requirements designed to facilitate the advanced and intensive learning appropriate for a master’s-level program. The Master of Physiotherapy Studies introduces graduates to the profession of physiotherapy and its key concepts in intensive mode during an initial summer semester.
Program title: Master of Physiotherapy Studies
Location: Brisbane, Queensland
Next semester intake: November 2015
Program duration: 2 years

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If you have any questions about the UQ Physiotherapy School, please contact OzTREKK’s Australian Physiotherapy Schools Admissions Officer Sarah Bridson at sarah@oztrekk.com or call 1-866-698-7355 (toll free in Canada). Contact OzTREKK for more information about studying in Australia and about physiotherapy programs at Australian universities.

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