December 8-11, 2021, Orlando Florida
The Howard H. Steel 2021 Conference on Pediatric Spinal Cord Injury\Dysfunction. Provided by the Steel Assembly, an Affiliate of the American Spinal Injury Association.
The 2021 Steel meeting will include a half day precourse (12/8) followed by 2 1/2 days (12/9 – 11) of scientific exchange and networking. A combination of didactics, free papers, point-counter-point debate, scientific posters, audience engagement and consumer participation will be used to present, review and discuss evidence based pediatric SCI\D best practice, contemporary controversies on complex problems relevant to pediatric SCI\D, and outcomes of pediatric SCI\D on the child and caregivers.
Keynote and Named Lecturers
Invited Keynote
Michael Vitale, MD, MPH
Nusinersen Intrathecal Treatments Effect on the Natural History of SMA
Dr. Michael G. Vitale is a leader New York Pediatric Spine Surgeon. He is the Ana Lucia Professor of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center, he is also Director of the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery as well as the Chief of the Pediatric Spine and Scoliosis Service at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York – Presbyterian.
Dr. Vitale specializes in spine surgery as well as non-operative treatment of complex pediatric scoliosis and other spinal disorders. He has a special interest in the treatment of patients with Early Onset Scoliosis. As a leader spine surgeon, he has pioneered numerous innovative surgical techniques, and has developed spinal instrumentation systems to improve the care of children with scoliosis.
Newton C. McCullough Lecture
Scott H. Kozin, MD
Tendon and Nerve Transfers for Restoration of Upper Limb Function in Children with SCI
Dr. Kozin has been an advocate for improving the lives of children via research, education, and patient care. He is currently Chief of Staff at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia. He has published over 100 peer review papers, mainly on the care of children with various diagnoses including brachial plexus injury, spinal cord injury, and congenital differences. Dr. Kozin received the Weiland Metal by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand in 2010, which honors a hand surgeon/scientist who has contributed a body of research that advances the field.
He implemented the Touching Hands Project to foster hand care around the globe with a focus on developing and underserved countries. Dr. Kozin was a key member in the first pediatric hand transplant in 2015. The successful procedure transplanted bilateral arms to Zion Harvey and has been inspiration for children with missing limbs.
The Stephen M Haley Memorial Lecture
Jacob Kean, PhD
Advancements in Measures and Outcomes - Collecting outcomes data, Managing and Using them to Improve Decision Making
Jacob Kean, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Health System Innovation and Research, Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, and Research Scientist, Salt Lake City VA Health Care System. He completed his doctorate in 2008 and served subsequently and concurrent with his faculty appointments at Indiana University as an Indiana CTSI KL2 Faculty Scholar, a Visiting Scientist at the Boston University Rehabilitation Outcomes Center, a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Rehabilitation Research Using Large Datasets at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and a VA Career Development Awardee. Dr. Kean completed the NIH Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) and a post-doctoral Master’s degree in Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics and Assessment (MESA) at the University of Illinois – Chicago.
Dr. Kean’s expertise lies at the nexus of these training areas: the creation and operation of research networks and the evaluation of network care practices using patient-centered outcomes. He is the Director of the Population Health Science – U Health Learning Health System, Principal Investigator of the Cerebral Palsy Research Network Data Coordinating Center, PI of the DoD-funded Optimizing Rehabilitation InterventiONs (ORION) for Cognition Following Complex Traumatic Brain Injury network, and Co-PI of the VA-funded Brain Injury Data Sharing Project, all of which are EHR-based learning health systems focused primarily on the care of persons neurological injuries.
Dates to Remember
- April 1, 2021: Abstract Submission Opens
- June 7, 2021: Abstracts, Courses, and Poster Submission Closes
- September 1, 2021: Late Breaking Poster Abstract Submission Closes
Chairs
- MJ Mulcahey, PhD, OTR/L
- Kathy Zebracki, PhD
- Randal Betz, MD
- Lawrence Vogel, MD
Program Committee
- Cristina Sadowsky, MD
- Dana Johnson, DPT
- Marika Augutis, PhD
- Bethany Lipa, MD
- Rebecca Martin, OTD
- Shubhra “Sue” Mukherjee, MD
Mission
To advance the best practice in pediatric spinal cord injury and dysfunction across the globe. To exchange and disseminate knowledge, education and research for professionals and those affected by pediatric SCI/D.