A picture of a plastic model of a lumbar spine.

Webinar: Classifying Pain in Adults with Cerebral Palsy

Four images of our speakers including headshots of Drs Bailes, Gannotti, Hurvitz and NoritzThe Cerebral Palsy Research Network will host its next MyCP webinar on classifying pain in adults with cerebral palsy (CP) next Tuesday, October 24 at 8 pm ET. Gathering more detailed information about a person’s pain will help clinicians determine what treatments may help address it. Leaders in the network’s care improvement for adults, our team that does continuous improvement of outcomes in the treatment of adults with CP, will present plans for the next phase of their work to address pain which is a significant issue in the quality of life for adults. Drs Amy Bailes, Mary Gannotti, Ed Hurvitz and Garey Noritz will present the work of this multi-center implementation effort aimed at establishing the widespread assessment of pain for adults with cerebral palsy.

Why are we focused on pain in adults with CP?

Adults with CP consistently report that they are in pain that often goes unaddressed. In our most recent survey of adults with CP, 78% report that they are in pain. It is part of our vision to work towards addressing the most pressing concerns of the CP community in the most efficient manner possible and pain is at the top of our list.

The CP Research Network’s Adult Care quality improvement team greatly improved how often pain was assessed in adults over the last two years, surging from 24% to over 90% of visits at participating network sites. Now the group is planning the next important step in the systematic treatment of pain – classifying it accurately as a critical step to effective treatment. The clinician researchers will describe:

  • The importance of assessing and treating pain in an adult CP clinic
  • Our findings about pain to date from our Community Registry
  • How pain is classified and why pain classification is important
  • Our process for quality improvement in the care of pain in adults with CP

After the presentations of these topics, the speakers will engage the community
attendees for feedback on the planned work to improve outcomes in treating pain. We encourage adults with CP to attend and participate in this webinar. The webinar is free and open to the public by registering at https://cprn.org/mycp-webinar-series/ or sign up below. The webinar will be recorded and posted to our YouTube channel following the webinar.

Classifying Pain in Adults with CP
Blurred lights and pathway going around a curve to convey the speed of acceleration.

Accelerator Award: Partnership Strengthens CP Research

The CP Research Network and CPARF logos side by side to indicate our new strategic partnership.The Cerebral Palsy Research Network announces a new research award opportunity called “Accelerator Awards” made possible through the network’s partnership with the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation (CPARF). Accelerator awards are up to $25,000 and are meant to rapidly advance research in the network. These awards will be made to investigators in the CP Research Network who put forth new study proposals and registry analyses that enhance the generation of new knowledge for the care and treatment of people with CP. The award process will be managed by Dr. Kristie Bjornson, the network’s Scientific Director who has a long track record in research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“We reviewed all the funding mechanisms available to CP focused investigators and established a process that will really streamline the timeline for decision making and investigator feedback,” said Dr. Bjornson. “This award mechanism is a significant milestone for the CP Research Network because it provides the necessary funding to leverage our CP Registries for large public grant applications to answer key questions developed by the community of persons with CP. It is intended to secure time and resources that might not otherwise be available.”

The Accelerator Awards extend additional benefits to sites and investigators that join the CP Research Network. The network offers professional development opportunities, collaborative research partnerships, participation in quality improvement initiatives, implementation of care pathways and powerful research infrastructure hosted at its Data Coordinating Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Nonmembers can learn how to join the network or partner with existing members from our webinar on this topic.

The CP Research Network began taking applications from its site investigators as of May 1, 2023. Grant applications may be submitted on a rolling basis and may be approved in as little four weeks. This rollout aligns well with our annual investigators’ meeting at Nemours/AI duPont earlier this month, where 50 people, including network site investigators, community members, an NIH program officer, and members of leading advocacy groups, gathered to advance study concepts being developed within the network.

The American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Develomental Medicine program cover for its 2023 annual meeting

Our Impact Grows: Sharing Our Findings

The program cover the annual meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine features skyline view of Chicago.

CP Research Network investigators will share our latest findings from our research and quality improvement at the annual meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine in Chicago this fall.

Providers, families and researchers for children with cerebral palsy (CP) will meet in Chicago, Illinois on September 10-13th for the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine’s (AACPDM) annual meeting. This in-person meeting will bring together participants from around the world. The CP Research Network will demonstrate is growing impact on the field of CP care and research by sharing its findings in two mini-symposia, one morning session, four free paper presentations and three scientific posters. All these efforts are aimed at improving outcomes for people with CP through the implementation of evidence-based information and practices. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share the results of our research, and to provide information about how the CP Research Network can be a catalyst for CP research.

The mini symposia will be two hours in total length including discussion.
Topics include:

  • Common Data Models and Research Data Sources: The practical realities of leveraging rich data sets to accelerate discovery – A multi-disciplinary team of presenters will be led by the CP Research Network CEO Paul Gross and include Michael Kruer, MD. They will discuss the sources of data available to researchers, the mechanism to access them and the practical realities of comparing and linking the data to generate new knowledge. The symposium will include speakers with real-world experience leveraging and linking these types of disparate but related data sources. It is appropriate for researchers focused on clinical and translational research.
  • Understanding the rationale behind practice variation in selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) moderated by Paul Gross, includes presenters from the disciplines that participate in SDR decision making including several CP Research Network investigators including Bhooma Aravamuthan, MD, DPhil, Jeffrey Leonard, MD, Tom Novacheck, MD, Joyce Oleszek, MD, and Brandon Rocque, MD, MS. The panel will discuss varied approaches to surgical decision making for SDR including overviews of national and international practice variation. They will discuss criteria involved in surgical spasticity decision making for SDR across several large tertiary care centers.

The morning seminar presentation is:

  • Accessing the CP Research Network Registries  for Community Research and Secondary Analyses featuring speakers Kristie Bjornson, PT, PhD, Mary Gannotti, PT, PhD, Paul Gross and Brandon Rocque, MD, MS.  These speakers will discuss how researchers can access the data generated by the CP Research Network registries to perform secondary analyses that generate new knowledge about CP from existing data collection.  The speakers will cover the process for applying to access data and the types and quantity of data available in both the clinical and community registries.

Free papers and scientific posters feature a single investigator presenting findings based on research generated from our network. Free papers are eight minute oral presentations given to attendees and posters are displayed a specific times during the conference in which investigators are available to explain their research findings one on one with interested attendees.  In this format, topics and investigators include:

Free papers:

Scientific Posters:

These symposia, morning seminars, scientific posters and free papers all focus on improving care and advance research on the international stage. The broad reach the network’s work is clearly visible at this annual meeting and will attract new clinician researchers into our circle, with potential to widen our eventually impact.

Drs Bailes, Gannotti and Noritz headshots. Bailes and Gannotti each with short brown hair and Noritz in a suit with glasses.

Improving Adult Care: A Glimpse into Progress

The Cerebral Palsy Research Network will present our Adult Care Initiative at the next meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine’s (AACPDM) Adults and Aging Special Interest Group (SIG) on Tuesday, February 28 from 4 pm ET until 5:30 pm. The presentation is open to the public and we encourage adults or clinicians who treat adults to join us.

The AACPDM is a professional society that gathers and educates physicians and therapists who treat people with cerebral palsy (CP). The SIG is open to the public and encourages members of the community to join in the presentations and discussions to contribute their lived experience. CP Research Network CEO Paul Gross is part of the organizing committee of the Adults and Aging SIG and will lead the meeting next Tuesday. Presenters include:

• Amy Bailes, PT, PhD, Clinician Researcher at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
• Mary Gannotti PT, PhD, Professor of Physical Therapy at University of Hartford
• Garey Nortiz, MD, Medical Director of Complex Care at Nationwide Children’s

Drs Bailes, Gannotti, and Noritz have all been leaders in the network since it was founded in 2015. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A and discussion about adult care and quality improvement.

Community members interested in joining the discussion must register in advance with AACPDM. Additional questions can be answered by emailing AdultAgingSIG@aacpdm.org. Unlike the MyCP Webinar Series, this presentation will not be recorded.

Thanks to Drew Beamer and Unsplash for this shot of a crystal ball in an extended hand with a view of the horizon

Stellar Year – Even Brighter Future

Dr. Ed Hurvitz, holds a mic while speaking to CPRN investigators seated classroom style at our Chicago meeting

Forty clinician investigators, community members and advocates gathered in Chicago in May 2022 to advance the research of the network.

The year 2022 was stellar for the Cerebral Palsy Research Network on several fronts — the creation of numerous new studies and funding to support existing studies, such as one focused on adult wellbeing and pain. We have had invaluable engagement with the community through our 11 webinars and our in-person research meeting in May. Additionally, we have implemented measurable standardization of care at 12 of our hospital centers through our quality improvement (QI) program. Finally, our partnership with the National Center for Health, Physical Activity and Disability has brought wellness programming to the CP community, and our new partnership with the University of Pittsburgh has begun providing us with data coordinating services.

The change in our business model that we set in 2021 has blossomed into a critical funding source that will sustain our future research enterprise and strengthen our team and infrastructure. Our research sites are supporting the network not only by volunteering their time to contribute to the CP registry and our quality improvement processes, but also by paying a participation fee to support the personnel and other resources necessary to run a high quality research network. These fees have allowed us to hire Dr. Kristie Bjornson as our scientific director and Dr. Amy Bailes to lead our QI efforts. In addition, we have been able to retain a consulting firm that specializes in data collection embedded in the electronic medical record which is a unique aspect to our registry and care improvement model.

A colored bar graph shows sites in the CP Research Network and the number of patients they have enrolled in the CP registry.

Our CP Research Network’s clinical registry has grown enrollments by more than 50% in the past year.

Our research efforts are already seeing the benefits of these investments where our May in-person investigator meeting facilitated the creation of six new research studies for the network to advance in parallel with our nine existing studies. Our existing studies have generated six new manuscripts three of which were published in 2022 and more are coming for 2023. Registries grew to 7,500 patients in our clinical registry (up 50% from the prior year) and 2,058 in our Community Registry (up 41%). These registries are now amongst the largest CP registries in the world. Our genetics study is entering its fifth year and on track to enroll its target of 500 patient parent trios and will reveal many previously unknown factors in the cause of CP. That knowledge will in turn let us begin to personalize treatment in the future.

Our quality improvement efforts are aimed at advancing the quality of care for CP now. We have four active efforts that are showing sustained improvement at multiple centers for the assessment of pain in adults, the consistent diagnosis of dystonia in CP and the surveillance of hips, the top cause of pain in individuals with CP. We have increased the assessment of pain in adults from a baseline of 24% to more than 90% of the visits. Similarly, we have increased the consistency of dystonia diagnosis from a baseline of 42% to just shy of 60%. For hip surveillance, we have examined the consistency of hip surveillance at CPRN centers and we are now using our registry to help identify the patients that need frequent hip surveillance. These care efforts are being spread to additional centers and being written up as manuscripts for publication enabling the CP Research Network to influence the treatment of CP worldwide.

Our wellness programs are focused on keeping people with CP physically active because evidence shows us the importance of exercise for health of people with disabilities. The MENTOR program to which we educate and recruit adults in the CP community has been very positively received by the people who have participated.


Many times over the past few weeks, I have recognized the timeliness of MENTOR for me, given my life stage, CP journey, and the added impact posed by my other health conditions. The MENTOR program helps me see how to manage all of that by building/reinforcing skills around what I can control (e.g., mindset, level of activity, and nutrition). At the same time, the one-on-one opportunities to meet with staff have helped me refine my approach.
Marji – MENTOR graduate

While we are excited by what we have accomplished in 2022, we are anticipating an even more impactful 2023. We have a big announcement planned for the coming weeks which will further expand and accelerate our research and education efforts. We are already on track to submit six to eight new grants and publish several more manuscripts. We hope to complete recruitment for our adult study of wellbeing and pain while continuing to follow adult these participants over the long term to increase knowledge about aging with CP. We are planning to release three new toolkits to strengthen our educational offerings. And we hope improve wellbeing in the community with more fitness offerings.

Stay well, stay tuned and thanks for all of your support and engagement in our work!

Dr. Amy Bailes with shoulder length hair, glasses, a brown jacket and salmon colored open collared shirt.

CP Stories: Dr. Amy Bailes Advances CP Care

Amy F. Bailes, PT PhD is the Director of Physical Therapy Research at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and an Associate Professor in the University of Cincinnati’s Department of Rehabilitation, Exercise, & Nutrition Sciences. Her clinical work focuses primarily on the care of children with CP, while her research involves how physical therapy services are utilized, the use of measurement tools to treat CP, and novel CP interventions.

Dr. Bailes' eight grade photo shows her smiling broadly with a blue and black checkered shirt over a yellow turtle neck.

Dr. Bailes early exposure to young child with cerebral palsy while babysitting influenced her ultimate career choice.

Dr. Bailes has worked as a pediatric physical therapist for the better part of four decades, but it was during her teenage years that she was first exposed to CP. After agreeing to babysit for a neighborhood family whom she didn’t know well, she realized after a few evenings that the baby, a nine-month-old boy, seemed delayed. After bringing it up with the family, they confirmed her guess: the baby had severe CP due to an infection during pregnancy. The young Amy Bailes didn’t end up babysitting for the family for long, but the chance encounter led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Indiana University.
Dr. Bailes sitting on a rock in Sedona AZ with her husband and two daughters and a beautiful red and green landscape behind her.

Dr. Bailes decided early to combine her love of children, physical activity with her fascination with the brain.

“I became very interested in how the brain worked and controlled movement,” said Dr. Bailes. “I learned that as a physical therapist, I could combine my interest in the brain with my love for physical activity and children.”

Throughout her career, she has seen the field of physical therapy evolve dramatically, especially for children with CP: “We’ve learned so much about caring for children with CP. It’s really changed. And that’s been pretty exciting.” Within pediatrics, Dr. Bailes’ experience has been expansive. She has worked in acute inpatient care, inpatient rehabilitation, and outpatient care, as well.

Dr. Bailes is also quite interested in physical therapy dosing, which covers the frequency, intensity, duration, and timing of administering physical therapy to patients. A recent study that she co-authored in Pediatric Physical Therapy entitled, “Documenting Physical Therapy Dose for Individuals with Cerebral Palsy: A Quality Improvement Initiative” describes how quality improvement activities were used to increase documentation of therapy dose in the patient’s electronic record of physical therapy. Detailed dose documentation is important to help us understand what treatments are effective and for whom. Dr. Bailes is actively working to spread standard documentation methods to other medical centers so that vital information can be collated and used to inform current practice.

Dr. Bailes is also passionate about developing closer relationships between clinicians, patients with CP, and their families, about “sharing information with families that can empower them to care for their child,” in her words. Part of why transparency and information-sharing is important to Dr. Bailes is because the field has not always prioritized openness. When the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) came into use, for example, it was common for clinicians to withhold a children’s classification from their family, on the basis that it might alarm them. This always struck Dr. Bailes as counterproductive: “It’s important—especially with a chronic condition like cerebral palsy—for the individual and the family to understand the condition. This information doesn’t really belong to us. It belongs to them.”

This is one of the reasons that Dr. Bailes initially became involved with the CP Research Network: “I like that CPRN is about breaking down barriers between researchers and families/individuals with CP to improve care and outcomes,” she said. Dr. Bailes is passionate not only about breaking down the barriers between professionals and families, but also between professionals in adjacent fields. The logic is straightforward: when specialists actively work together, everyone benefits. Strict separation between disciplines can be a problem in CP—information and context is inevitably lost as the patient bounces from one specialist to another—but Dr. Bailes is optimistic that things are moving in the right direction. Part of her optimism stems from the power of groups like the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine and their willingness to collaborate and treat from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Dr. Amy Bailes with shoulder length brown hair, glasses smiling with a while shirt and blue jacket.

Dr. Bailes is the CP Research Network Quality Improvement coach work with different disciplines to rapidly improve care for people with CP.

Likewise with CPRN and its power to facilitate connections: “I have learned so much. I have become a better person, clinician, and researcher because of these relationships,” Dr. Bailes said. Currently, she coaches four quality improvement teams within CPRN. These four teams, respectively, are focused on:
  1. improving care for adults,
  2. improving the assessment of dystonia,
  3. improving hip surveillance, and
  4. decreasing intrathecal baclofen pump infections.

When asked what she most valued about her work, Dr. Bailes was already looking toward the future: “One of the most rewarding parts of my work is planting seeds for the next generation of researchers and clinicians to carry the work forward.”

The cover of the final program for the annual meeting of AACPDM with a picture of Las Vegas at night

Our Impact Grows: AACPDM Meeting

The cover of the final program for the annual meeting of AACPDM with a picture of Las Vegas at night

The final program of the annual meeting for the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine in Las Vegas

Clinicians and researchers who focus on cerebral palsy (CP) gather in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week for the meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM). It is the first in-person meeting in three years, and the CP Research Network will be there in force. Our work will be spotlighted in three mini-symposia and three morning seminars, as well as one paper presentation and one scientific poster. All are geared toward spotlighting not only the results of our research, but also how engagement in our network can facilitate continued research and the implementation of evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for people with CP.

The mini symposia will be two hours in length total with a short discussion after. Topics include:

  • Building a Center of Excellence in Cerebral Palsy: Care Delivery Models Across Cerebral Palsy Research Network Sites – Laurie Glader, MD, a developmental pediatrician, CP Research Network Steering Committee member and Scientific Co-chair for the AACPDM meeting, will lead a presentation and discussion of different “models of care” from leading centers in the CP Research Network.
  • The State of Tone Management in Children with CP in North America: What Can We Learn from Each Other? CP Research Network investigator Sruthi Thomas, MD, PhD, is leading a session with other physicians from the network to discuss different strategies for tone management.
  • Using Quality Improvement (QI) to Change Systems and Improve Care in Cerebral Palsy – Amy Bailes, PT, PhD, and CP Research Network QI coach, will lead a discussion including clinical leaders and consumers about three of our active quality improvement initiatives including adult care, dystonia diagnosis, and hip surveillance.

Our morning seminars, each of which are one hour in length, include:

  • How to Participate in Multi-center Clinical Research and Quality Improvement (QI) with the CP Research Network
  • NINDS Cerebral Palsy Common Data Elements for Lower Extremity Orthopedic Interventions
  • Communication is a Gateway to Participation: State of the Science and Future Directions

And our free papers and posters include:

  • The Development and Sensibility Evaluation of the CPCHECKList© – A Comorbidity Index for Severe Cerebral Palsy and;
  • an Update from the Cerebral Palsy Research Network Registry.

These symposia, seminars, posters, and papers all seek to improve care and advance research at the national level. The breadth and depth of the network’s activities are very visible at this annual meeting and will draw new clinician researchers into our circle, eventually expanding our impact.

Webinar: Intrathecal Baclofen Pump Complications

Robert Bollo, MD, with a shaved head and a smile, in a dark suit, white shirt and red striped tie

Dr. Robert Bollo will present on the CP Research Network’s efforts to reduce the most common complication with intrathecal baclofen pumps.

Our next MyCP webinar is Thursday, January 27, at 8 PM ET and will be about our efforts to improve outcomes for intrathecal baclofen pumps (ITB). ITB pumps are commonly used to treat spasticity in people with cerebral palsy. Our featured speaker will be Robert Bollo, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon from the University of Utah. The webinar and open Q&A with Dr. Bollo will last one hour.

Dr. Bollo will present an overview of the use of ITB pumps in the management of spasticity and common post-surgical complications with ITB pumps. He is leading a quality improvement (QI) initiative (study to improve outcomes) in the CP Research Network to monitor the most common complication of baclofen pumps – post surgical infections. ITB pump infections are common but estimates of infection rates in the literature vary widely with an average of 10%[refs] of all implantations.

Interested participants need to register in advance. Members of the MyCP webinar series will be emailed a link for this webinar. It is free and open to the public. It will also be recorded for future viewing.


References

  1. Fjelstad AB, Hommelstad J, Sorteberg A. Infections related to intrathecal baclofen therapy in children and adults: frequency and risk factors. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2009 Nov;4(5):487-93. doi: 10.3171/2009.6.PEDS0921. PMID: 19877786.
  2. Tyack L, Copeland L, McCartney L, Waugh MC. Adverse events associated with paediatric intrathecal baclofen in Australia: 5 years of data collection. J Paediatr Child Health. 2021 Feb;57(2):258-262. doi: 10.1111/jpc.15194. Epub 2020 Sep 25. PMID: 32975337.
  3. Imerci A, Rogers KJ, Pargas C, Sees JP, Miller F. Identification of complications in paediatric cerebral palsy treated with intrathecal baclofen pump: a descriptive analysis of 15 years at one institution. J Child Orthop. 2019 Oct 1;13(5):529-535. doi: 10.1302/1863-2548.13.190112. PMID: 31695821; PMCID: PMC6808077.
  4. Desai VR, Raskin JS, Mohan A, Montojo J, Briceño V, Curry DJ, Lam S. A standardized protocol to reduce pediatric baclofen pump infections: a quality improvement initiative. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2018 Apr;21(4):395-400. doi: 10.3171/2017.10.PEDS17248. Epub 2018 Jan 26. PMID: 29372853.
  5. Desai VR, Raskin JS, Mohan A, Montojo J, Briceño V, Curry DJ, Lam S. A standardized protocol to reduce pediatric baclofen pump infections: a quality improvement initiative. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2018 Apr;21(4):395-400. doi: 10.3171/2017.10.PEDS17248. Epub 2018 Jan 26. PMID: 29372853.
  6. Spader HS, Bollo RJ, Bowers CA, Riva-Cambrin J. Risk factors for baclofen pump infection in children: a multivariate analysis. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2016 Jun;17(6):756-62. doi: 10.3171/2015.11.PEDS15421. Epub 2016 Feb 26. PMID: 26919315.
  7. Haranhalli N, Anand D, Wisoff JH, Harter DH, Weiner HL, Blate M, Roth J. Intrathecal baclofen therapy: complication avoidance and management. Childs Nerv Syst. 2011 Mar;27(3):421-7. doi: 10.1007/s00381-010-1277-9. Epub 2010 Sep 18. PMID: 20853002.
  8. Motta F, Antonello CE. Analysis of complications in 430 consecutive pediatric patients treated with intrathecal baclofen therapy: 14-year experience. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2014 Mar;13(3):301-6. doi: 10.3171/2013.11.PEDS13253. Epub 2014 Jan 3. Erratum in: J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2014 May;13(5):588. PMID: 24404968.
  9. Borowski A, Littleton AG, Borkhuu B, Presedo A, Shah S, Dabney KW, Lyons S, McMannus M, Miller F. Complications of intrathecal baclofen pump therapy in pediatric patients. J Pediatr Orthop. 2010 Jan-Feb;30(1):76-81. doi: 10.1097/BPO.0b013e3181c6b257. PMID: 20032747.
  10. Gooch JL, Oberg WA, Grams B, Ward LA, Walker ML. Complications of intrathecal baclofen pumps in children. Pediatr Neurosurg. 2003 Jul;39(1):1-6. doi: 10.1159/000070870. PMID: 12784068.
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

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!

 

 

 

 

Dr. Bhooma Aravamuthan, pictured in a white lab coat and dark rimmed glasses, will speak about dystonia in CP

Update on Dystonia in Cerebral Palsy

On Thursday, December 9, at 8 pm ET, the CP Research Network will hold its final MyCP webinar for 2021 to provide an update on our work in dystonia in cerebral palsy. Bhooma Aravamuthan, MD, DPhil, a pediatric movement disorders neurologist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and a leader in the network, will present an update on our progress in this important area of research and care.

In 2019, the Cerebral Palsy (CP) Research Network started an effort to build a community centered research agenda for dystonia in CP. Dr. Darcy Fehlings had found that dystonia was significantly under diagnosed in the CP population and that as much as 80% of the people with CP had some degree of dystonia in addition to spasticity.[ref] The presence of dystonia can be challenging and painful for people and often requires different approaches to treatment. Parents expressed frustration in getting an accurate diagnosis that allowed their children get relief from these symptoms. The CP Research Network developed Research CP Dystonia Edition to engage the extended community – caregivers, people with CP, and clinicians – in a dialogue about the most pressing issues needing research in dystonia in CP.

Dr. Aravamuthan leads our quality improvement effort focused on increasing practitioner awareness of dystonia screening for every person with CP. She will describe how this effort addresses a key priority set forth in Research CP Dystonia Edition. She will also describe research concepts that she is developing to directly engage the community to advance dystonia diagnosis. Please join us for the webinar next Thursday evening by signing up at https://cprn.org/mycp-webinar-series/.