Prologue to “Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity—Executive Summary”

Abstract

The Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity (Summit) was held in Washington, DC, on April 28–29, 2005, with the general objective of advancing and promoting research in rehabilitation by making recommendations to expand research capacity. The idea of convening a research summit was conceived in 2002 by the Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). Under the leadership of Dr Gail Gamble, the Foundation invited the American Academy of PM&R, the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, and the Association of Academic Physiatrists to meet and discuss the concept of a national research summit to address issues related to building research capacity in rehabilitation. The group established a Summit Steering Committee composed of the leaders of the 4 organizations. The Summit Steering Committee then appointed a multidisciplinary Summit Program Committee (Program Committee), which included Walter Frontera (Chair, Harvard Medical School/Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital), Leighton Chan (University of Washington), Rory Cooper (University of Pittsburgh), Pamela Duncan (University of Florida), Marcus Fuhrer (National Institutes of Health), Alan Jette (Boston University), John Kemp (Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, PC), Kenneth Ottenbacher (University of Texas Medical Branch/Galveston), P Hunter Peckham (Case Western Reserve University), Elliot Roth (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago), and Denise Tate (University of Michigan). The Program Committee wrote the executive summary that begins on …