Program/Project Purpose: The economic consequences of noncommunicable diseases may relate more to a lifetime of disability than either death or health care expenitures. Medical rehabilitation and Physiatry are proven to alter disability, save lives, decrease cost, and improve contribution to society. However the vast majority of persons with disability in low resource countries receive no rehabilitation whatsoever. It must be concluded that past academic, philanthropic, and socio-political efforts have failed. The solution may come from non-traditional strategies. Program: The International Rehabilitation Forum (IRF, www.rehabforum.org) is a not-for-profit organization built by American and international academics to advance medical rehabilitation by purposefully working outside of traditional mechanisms. Structure/Method/Design: IRF principles include: 1) Participation: Stable executive leadership, but informal membership without dues or obligation in order to encourage low-resource participation and bypass universities’ bylaws. 2) Mentoring: Identifying and mentoring rising leaders in low-resource countries and bi-cultural high-resource professional. 3) Disruptive innovation: Researching absurdities in policy and presenting these in the most politically advantageous ways. Holding inexpensive ‘world congresses’ in lowresource countries so the organization’s local partnership can leverage the prestige. Bypassing academics to work with the famous, rich, and influential. Outcomes & Evaluation: The nature of the strategy precludes accurate assessment of impact, however some specifics are illustrative; 1) participation: ‘supporters’ include 50 academic and aid organizations and at least 321 professionals from around the world. 2) Mentoring: IRF mentored the Pakistani 2014 global AuthorAID Mentor of the Year from residency through global prominence; two bicultural Americans from medical school through MD, FAAPMR, and MPH to faculty appointments; and the national leaders of rehabilitation medicine of three countries. Low-resource professionals have coauthored at least 12 publications initiated by high-resource IRF mentors. 3) Disruptive innovation: An ironic IRF expose on Physiatry in Africa and Antarctica was published simultaneously in 5 global journals and changed WHO policy. Sham ‘American’ physiatry consultations in an African trauma ward proved a profound deficit in care. An IRF-commissioned video game, ‘Language Independent Functional Evaluation’ has outperformed traditional functional assessments and is used on 4 continents. IRF’s ‘Captain Crip’ videos have gained global attention. World congresses have caused promises from three universities to build rehabilitation units. An IRF meeting launched the ISPRM/WHO committee on disaster rehabilitation. Four ministries of health have now commissioned the IRF to design their medical rehabilitation policies. Going Forward: Next steps include a ‘global on-line synchronous residency training program’ for isolated Physiatrist faculty, 24-7 coverage of an African rehab unit and research center, and an on-line magazine/journal with mentoring peer-reviewers. Financial sustainability, volunteer management, and succession planning are organizational challenges. The IRF’s success in disruptive innovation illustrates weak points in traditional global health strategies and may encourage others to look for non-traditional change strategies. Funding: No funding listed. Abstract #: 01NCD010