CPRN (Cerebral Palsy Research Network) news updates everything CPRN is doing for, and within, the cerebral palsy community. You will discover updated research information, new location sites for the Cerebral Palsy Registry, and more for you to check out today!

Three headshots of Cerebral Palsy researchers Aravamuthan, Kruer and Gross

CPRN Investigators To Speak at NIH Cerebral Palsy Workshop

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The banner for the NIH meeting on the state of cerebral palsy research with a graphic of a brainThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) are hosting a virtual public workshop on the state of cerebral palsy (CP) research starting next Wednesday, August 17 and August 18 that features three investigators from the CP Research Network. The meeting has been organized in response to Congressional requests to provide an update on the NIH Strategic Plan for Cerebral Palsy which was published in 2017 following two CP workshops held in 2014 and 2016. The organizers describe the purpose of the meeting as “to provide a forum for researchers, clinicians, and people with or affected by cerebral palsy to share updates on research progress and new opportunities since the publication of the Strategic Plan.” The CP Research Network encourages interested members of our community to register and join the online meeting.

The meeting is organized to follow the three priorities of the strategic plan starting with basic and translational research, and then clinical research and ending with workforce development. Drs Aravamuthan and Kruer, funded by NIH for their work in CP, will provide updates on their research progress on Day 1. Both are movement disorders neurologists with Dr. Aravamuthan specializing in dystonia in CP and Dr. Kruer on the genetic causes of CP. CP Research Network Chief Executive, Paul Gross, will speak on the use of CP Registries in research on Day 2. Each day will include between 40 and 80 minutes of discussion moderated by NIH staff. This meeting will include discussions of research progress and needs across the lifespan from neonatal development to adults with CP.

A cartoon depicts people running and a man rolling quickly in a wheelchair to reach 60 miles for cerebral palsy

60 Mile Challenge for CP Research

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A young girl in a brown knit hat takes steps in her walker.

Join us for the 60 Mile Challenge for CP

Join us this May in rallying support for the cerebral palsy (CP) community and our research work at the CP Research Network with the 60 Mile Challenge for CP Research! This peer-to-peer fundraiser is a great way to raise awareness for CP and provide a way for your friends and family to improve the lives of people with CP by raising money for our national research efforts. You can join the challenge on Facebook and raise money there or, if your are not active on Facebook, on our 60 Mile Challenge event website. And you can clock your miles any way you see fit – Fitbit, wheelchair odometer, Strava, phone app, whatever works for you and how you move! You can create a team, do it solo or just support someone else that is doing it. Share your progress on Facebook to get support for your efforts!

 

A young woman with cerebral palsy in a hat and shorts using arm crutches leans on a tree during a hike.

You can go solo or start a team or just support someone else who is doing the 60 Mile Challenge!

The 60 Mile Challenge for CP Research is the first in a series of peer-to-peer fundraising activities that we will conduct this year. Our goal is to raise funds to support our expanding research agenda to answer critical questions in the care of children and adults with CP. The CP Research Network is the largest and most comprehensive collaboration of hospitals and community members working together to improve health outcomes for people with CP. We host the largest community and clinical registries in the US to gather robust and comprehensive data for research. We focus our research and consumer educational content on the health and wellness outcomes that people with cerebral palsy value most.

Please join us this May for the 60 Mile Challenge for CP Research!

Dr. Aravamuthan, a doctor specializing in cerebral palsy, with dark hair back over her white lab coast smiling.

New Publication on Cerebral Palsy

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Bhooma Aravamuthan, M.D., DPhil. A smiling woman with long dark hair is wearing black rimmed glasses and a white lab coat.

Dr. Aravamuthan has championed physicians sharing an etiologic diagnosis with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

The Cerebral Palsy (CP) Research Network congratulates investigator Bhooma Aravamuthan, MD, DPhil and her co-authors for the publication of her CP Research Network study entitled “Diagnostic preferences include discussion of etiology for adults with cerebral palsy and their caregivers.” The publication, released in the journal Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology in January 2022, describes the results of her survey of community members about the importance of understanding their possible etiologies (origins) of CP. The results of the study indicate that most community members with a diagnostic preference would want to know both their CP diagnosis and any information about their potential etiologic diagnoses.

Dr. Aravamuthan has been a strong advocate for shifting the practice of clinicians that make a CP diagnosis to include information that is important to families for numerous reasons. This article concludes that physicians should change practice to include all information about etiologic diagnoses with their CP diagnosis. This may include, in some situations, stating that the etiologies of a person’s CP are not known.

“Based on survey work we have done with clinicians, many tend to provide either a diagnosis of CP, or a diagnosis describing the etiology of CP, but not both,” said Dr. Aravamuthan, a pediatric movement disorders neurologist as Washington University in St. Louis. “But this study shows that families value the services and the sense of community of having both diagnoses when available.”

The red cover of Developmental Medicine and Children Neurology journal

The full journal article is available to subscribers to DMCN. MyCP members can click on the journal cover to go to the page to view the pre-approved version of the article.

We have made the article in its pre-approved state available to members of the MyCP community. As with many academic publications, this article is not available for free for the general public but the journal allows for authors to post pre-approved versions. MyCP members can find the article in our CPRN Private Archive. Interested community members can join MyCP for free to access this article and other services such as personalized resource recommendations and free adaptive fitness programs.

Cerebral Palsy Photo Contest Winning pictures

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day 2022

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Today, March 25, is the federally recognized Cerebral Palsy (CP) Awareness Day! We are excited to announce the winners for our inaugural CP Awareness Month photo contest. In February, we began accepting submissions in five categories: creativity, diversity, participation & inclusion, perseverance, and physical activity. Each of the following submissions were selected by leading these categories in votes out of 13,383 counted:

A young girl with cerebral palsy smiles while holding the bottom of her dress above an incoming ocean tide.

Creativity Winner: Michelle Toy: Live every day like Mighty Mara!
A young boy with cerebral palsy uses his gait trainer with determination and glee

Diversity winner: Reena De Asis: Determined to thrive as he reaches out to you and lights up the room. The flames on this joyous toddler’s gait trainer are a reminder that he’s a CP warrior on fire!
A proud young woman with CP, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a blue-and-gold graduation cap and gown, receives her diploma.

Participation & Inclusion winner: Jersey Morrison: Jersey’s Graduation in 2021
A man in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy sits between hospital administrators receiving his fundraising check for $10,000.

Perseverance winner: Gary Lynn: “I have not ever let Cerebral Palsy stop me or define who I am!”
A young boy with hemiplegic cerebral palsy jumps for joy as he heads for a puddle of rain water

Physical Activity Winner: Sarah Board: Jumping for joy despite my hemiplegia!

Congratulations to each of these photographers and subjects for their selection and their prize of $100.

In addition to these winners, the staff and volunteers of the CP Research Network voted for best overall photograph in terms of what represented the CP Research Network’s values, the categories and our focus on wellbeing. The winner is:

An adaptive basketball coach in a wheelchair lifts a boy with cerebral palsy overhead in his own chair to dunk a basketball

Best Overall winner: Dawn McKeag: Slam dunk!

Congratulations to Dawn McKeag for the photo of her son Fin and the coaches their local Y for adaptive basketball and the $500 prize!

In addition to this winner, our team wanted to recognize two pictures for honorable mention:

The Shrader triplets, two of whom have cerebral palsy, at graduation

Best photo honorable mention: Carol Shrader: Triplet selfie at Benjamin’s graduation from Belhaven University!

A young man with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair focuses intensely as he aims down his drawn arrow preparing to release it

Honorable Mention: Wesley Magee-Saxton: My 22 year old son, who has CP,  has been perfecting his archery technique with a bow that his dad modified for him. He spent hours practicing and can now almost always hit the target.

Thank you to EVERYONE who participated – submissions, shares and votes. We hope that by sharing pictures and our awareness banners we helped you create awareness for CP and celebrate our vibrant community! Our board will continue to match donations this month 2:1! Wear your green proudly today!

Dr. Kristie Bjornson in a bright green CPRN shirt and holding an orthotic.

CP Research Network Hires Scientific Director

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Kristie Bjornson, PT, PhD. A smiling woman with blond hair, wearing a black vest over maroon turtleneck in a hospital hallway.

Kristie Bjornson, PT, PhD, MS, has been hired by the CP Research Network to be the Scientific Director.

The Cerebral Palsy Research Network hired Kristie Bjornson, PT, PhD, MS to lead its scientific direction. Dr. Bjornson, featured in our CP Stories in April 2021, is a leader in the field of research for cerebral palsy. In her new role, Dr. Bjornson will lead the network’s effort to pursue public funding from granting agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research. Dr. Bjornson brings multi-center clinical trial experience for various interventions for CP (i.e. surgery, injections, orthoses, and rehabilitation).

“I’m excited to merge my experience in clinical research in cerebral palsy with the power of the network,” said Dr. Bjornson. “There are so many important to questions to answer for our community and the network is a highly efficient way to conduct this research.”

In addition to her role as Scientific Director, Dr. Bjornson will continue as a site principal investigator for Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH) where her first-hand experience with our registry will be invaluable to our future research endeavors as she has real world experience with how the registry can be used to make clinical research more effective. Under her leadership, SCH has become a significant contributor to the richness of data in the network’s cerebral palsy registry as SCH has enrolled its entire CP population. Understanding and leveraging the registry to plan new research studies is a great strength that Dr. Bjornson brings to the network.

CP Awareness Month Begins

CP Awareness Month Begins!

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A young woman with cerebral palsy leans on a tree while hiking.

Come back every day to vote for YOUR favorite pictures.

Join the Cerebral Palsy (CP) Research Network in our activities to celebrate National CP Awareness month. This recognized month is a great opportunity for us to create awareness about living with CP for the general public to help fund research, support disability policies, and to promote inclusion. There is so much you can do to help the community:

  1. In February, we gathered photos for our CP Awareness photo contest. You can vote for the best picture in each of five categories on our website. We will be awarding a total of $1,000 in cash prizes to the winners on national CP Awareness Day – March 25! Go vote for your favorites – and share them on social media to get more votes.
  2. We have CP facts as Facebook banners that you can download and use to spread the word. We will be posting a CP fact every day on our Facebook and Instagram – feel free to share those!
  3. You can buy CP Research Network merchandise at our Bonfire store and wear green through the month! A portion of the proceeds is donated to our work!
  4. You can donate or start a Facebook fundraiser – our board with 2X match the donations you give or raise throughout the month of March!

Please help us in our efforts to spread awareness for cerebral palsy!

Three photos show a woman in a wheelchair lifting weights, a nutritious meal and a peaceful day the beach

Free Mindfulness, Exercise, and Nutrition Course

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A cutting board and knife are laid out with healthy ingredients and a fry pan.

One of the core curriculum of MENTOR is nutrition which is of greater importance for people with cerebral palsy for their daily and long term health.

The Cerebral Palsy Research Network has partnered with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) to provide free virtual training classes on mindfulness, exercise and nutrition (MENTOR). NCHPAD is funded through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control to promote opportunities that are crucial to the health of people with a physical disability. The CP Research Network piloted the MENTOR program in April 2021 to provide feedback on the program for people with cerebral palsy (CP). NCHPAD was recently funded for the next five years and chose the CP Research Network as their partner for the CP community.

The MENTOR program is held over eight weeks for one hour a day. Classes meet virtually and have instructors from different disciplines to teach mindfulness, nutritional health and adaptive exercise. Some exercise equipment is provided free of charge. The classes offer optional add-on private coaching to tailor the content for the individual participating. The next class for people with CP will begin in April.

An informational webinar is being planned for February 23 at 4 pm ET with NCHPAD chief executive Dr. James Rimmer and past participants from the CP community. Adults with CP that are interested in learning more should visit our Cerebral Palsy Fitness page or send an email to mentor@cprn.org. Go to our MyCP webinar series page to sign up for the informational webinar.

A woman in a chair lifting weights, a girl swimming in a triathalon, a college graduate seeking work and triples in a swing.

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Photo Contest

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Young man with cerebral palsy sits in his red walker, while facing the ocean on the sandy beach.In advance of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, which runs each year throughout the month of March, the Cerebral Palsy Research Network has launched a photo contest to highlight the lives and experiences of community members living with CP. The contest invites members of the community to submit up to five photos photos that depict their day-to-day life, adventures, challenges, joys, and journey. The CP Research Network has opened its gallery of submissions and will award $1,000 in cash prizes to five winners on March 25, 2022 – the day officially designated as National CP Awareness Day in the United States.

“We find that the CP community is underrepresented in so many forms of media today,” said Paul Gross, President and CEO of the CP Research Network. “As an example, stock photography agencies have very limited authentic photographs of the lived experience for people with CP.” The CP Awareness Photo Contest seeks to develop a rich set of authentic photos of people with CP that can be used in the CP Research Network’s growing cerebral palsy awareness campaigns for March and beyond!

The CP Awareness Photo Contest is opens today on CPRN.ORG. Contestants must be members of MyCP and may participate as an advocate, clinician, researcher or community member Prizes will be awarded as follows:

Category Prize
Creativity $100
Diversity $100
Participation and inclusion $100
Perseverance $100
Physical activity $100
Best Overall $500

Winners will be chosen via a combination of votes and final selection by the CP Research Network. Contestants must sign a photo release as part of the entry process. Photos will be displayed on CPRN.ORG and CP Research Network social media channels. Detailed rules for entries can be found on the photo contest rules page. Dig through your archives or snap a new picture and submit it soon!

Happy New Year 2022 from the CP Research Network with a black background and fireworks in the corners

Happy New Year from the CP Research Network

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At the Cerebral Palsy Research Network, we have a lot to be thankful for.  You, our great extended cerebral palsy (CP) community, helped us achieve our fundraising goal of $10,000 this past month for our MyCP webinar series in 2022.  With our board of directors’ matching, we raised more than $30,000 for our network! We are excited to bring our MyCP webinar series back in full swing next week beginning with a live interview of the authors of Pure Grit (details to come out tomorrow).  Thank you to all who contributed and helped to spread the word!

2021 in Review

Last year was transformative in numerous ways for the CP Research Network.  We kicked off the year with the announcement of our merger with CP NOW. The combination of their educational and wellness programming with our efforts led to significant accomplishments including:

 

Our Research and Quality Improvement initiatives made significant progress in both seeking to answer key research questions about CP and improving the treatment of people with CP now.  A few highlights include:

What’s new for 2022?

We have a lot of projects that will culminate in 2022! These include multiple publications of our work in leading journals, partnerships to sustain and grow our wellbeing offerings, continued progress on our research and quality initiatives, and the return of our MyCP webinar series to name a few.

There are lots of ways to stay engaged with us.

Please consider one of these:

All the best to you and the entire CP community for 2022!

 

 

 

 

October 6 is World CP Day - Millioins of Reasons to Spread the Word

CP Research Network Featured at AACPDM

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The Cerebral Palsy Research Network was invited alongside of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and C-Progress to teach early-stage investigators how to establish a successful research program at their institution during the annual meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM). The nine-hour pre-conference tutorial featured presentations from each of these research and funding organizations to emphasize key steps for an investigator to get funding. The CP Research Network is differentiated from its co-presenters by being an organization that facilitates and conducts research.

In addition to presenting the network’s programs, registries, and tools, CEO Paul Gross held a breakout session for Q&A with interested attendees. “It was an honor to present our mission and vision alongside the largest public funders for research – NIH and PCORI,” said Gross. “The attendees also heard from Dr. Michael Kruer about his experience working with the CP Research Network to gain $3M in funding from NIH for his genetic causes of CP study.”

This pre-conference session fell on October 6 – World CP Day – when the CP Research Network Board of Directors has offered to match donations two-fold! World CP Day creates awareness about CP and much needed research around the globe. We are excited to be part of accelerating that research by educating new investigators to the field.