MASCIP’s primary objective is to provide a national professional forum to promote standards in clinical practice, foster research and encourage the development of health and social care services for people with spinal cord injuries. The yearly conference enables a wide range of SCI professionals to share their experiences and research to guide future endeavours within the field.
Our director, Vicky Goosey-Tolfrey and PhD student, Natasha Mehta, were amongst those in attendance of the conference hosted at Burleigh Court, Loughborough University, on 21st November.
Vicky delivered a presentation on a recent PHC study 'The effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and protein on lean mass in persons with spinal cord injury: A pilot study'.
MASCIP offered a great opportunity for Vicky and Natasha to continue to develop their understanding in the field of SCI, build new connections within the field and re-connect with familiar faces, including representatives from ASPIRE (a national charity that provides practical help to people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury) and SIA (Spinal Injury Association).
We spoke to Natasha about her first experience at MASCIP…
I recently had the incredible opportunity to attend the MASCIP conference, which was an enriching experience. This event provided a platform for me to engage with academic researchers, clinicians, and other healthcare professionals dedicated to the field of spinal cord injury (SCI). The networking opportunities were invaluable, and I'm excited about the potential for these connections to translate into future collaborations. Attending the conference has further motivated me to align my research with practical applications that can truly make a difference in the lives of those with SCI.”
A small army of PHC members also attended the 2-day BASES conference held at Coventry Football Club on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st November. BASES is the professional body for sport and exercise sciences in the UK and runs a yearly conference as an opportunity for its members to connect with like-minded people, be inspired and share knowledge across disciplines.
PhD students, Hannah Johnston, Pippa Bailey, and Yash Deshpande; research associate, Thomas Rietveld; and lecturer, Tom O’Brien all made their way to the BASES conference. One of the PHC's international research collaborators, Fransiska Bossuyt, also managed to attend and was able to find time to reconnect with our PHC members and discuss future collaboration opportunities.
Day one of the conference saw Pippa present the first chapter of her PhD on speed zone methods in women’s wheelchair basketball. Yash also delivered an oral presentation on the timing of returns of serves in wheelchair tennis. On the second day, Thomas gave an oral presentation on the use of sensor technology to track powerchair football players. The team also had an opportunity to hear a session delivered by Nik Diaper, former Head of Para Sport at Loughborough University and now Head of Paralympic Performance Support at UKSI touching on his reflections from Paris and future directions of performance and health support for Para athletes.
We caught up with some of the PHC team that attended the conference:
Yash Deshpande –
It was a great experience to present my research in front of fellow researchers in biomechanics and parasport, getting some interesting insights and ideas from their questions. I attended some really great lectures with Aquatics GB, including application of biomechanics to real life and understanding the translation of interdisciplinary research to real use cases.”
Pippa Bailey –
I enjoyed presenting the first chapter of my PhD research at the BASES conference and it was useful to get some feedback around study design and further sub analysis. I found it really interesting to hear from numerous UKSI staff regarding their preparation for the Paris 2024 Paralympics & Olympics and their reflections on the process.”
Thomas Rietveld –
BASES was a great platform to present some of my work on the mobility demands in powerchair football. This project was a fantastic collaboration between Loughborough University, the FA and FIPFA. Some great discussion on how to move the sport forward from a performance and safety perspective. It was great meeting Dr Mitch Finley from University Academy 92, who chaired our session and hopefully we can chat powerchair football again soon.”
A great week of dissemination and network building for our PHC team, well done to all who contributed!