Eric Parent, PT, MSc, PhD - SOSORT President

    On behalf of the SOSORT Board, I am pleased to welcome you to the first meeting of the International Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment held as part of Spineweek. This represents a unique opportunity to learn about clinical and scientific evidence related to the conservative treatment of spinal deformity as well as more broadly about the management of spine disorders. Indeed, Spineweek allows participants to attend presentations over one week at a common location from 24 spine-related research and clinical societies from all around the world.

SOSORT was founded in 2004, with an aim to increase scientific knowledge, further consumer education, and develop collaboration around better non-operative management for all spine deformities. The organization is comprised of physicians, orthotists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, exercise physiologists, other allied health providers, researchers, and patients/ families all invested in furthering the treatment of spine deformity for individuals worldwide.

This will be the first time the conference comes to Australia. SOSORT is excited to share knowledge with other organizations improving spine care internationally. Content will include oral presentations by authors of original research pertaining to non-operative spine deformity management (etiology, natural history, adult spine deformity, quality of life, bracing, physiotherapeutic scoliosis-specific exercise, screening, and post-surgical outcomes. An educational course is being developed as well to offer multidisciplinary management education on non-operative spine deformity.

We look forward to meeting you next April! 

I would like to introduce myself and the board members for this 2019-2020 year, outline my goals for the year, and summarize some key board activities. It is an honour to take on the presidency for SOSORT at this stage of its growth.

I joined SOSORT after the Montréal meeting in 2010 impressed by the passion, desire to work collaboratively to advance the level of evidence supporting conservative treatment for scoliosis. Hosting post conference research courses allowed me to join the SOSORT board as secretary from 2016-2018.

I received my PT degree from Université Laval in Québec City. My MSc in Experimental Medicine at Université Laval studying the biomechanics of stair ascent recovery after a knee arthroplasty. I then received my PhD in Rehabilitation Science at University of Alberta studying the measurement properties of quantitative imaging markers of disc degeneration on lumbar MRI images. In 2005 I completed a post-doc with the Edmonton Scoliosis Research group with a focus on measuring outcomes related to quality of life and surface topography measurements of posture in patients with scoliosis. I completed a post-doc in Salt Lake City in the United States where I studied clinical, MRI imaging and neurophysiology predictors of good response to extension repeated movement exercises in patients with low back pain. I joined the Edmonton Scoliosis Research Group in 2008. I have practiced in an outpatient clinic and and am now associated professor of Physical Therapy at University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta Canada where I conduct research on the effects of exercises for scoliosis and on the measurement properties of outcomes for scoliosis and low back pain.

It is a pleasure to work with the following highly dedicated board members. Past president Luke Stikeleather is setting up SOSORT as a non-profit Society and transitioning our banking activities so that we can receive donations going forward. President-elect Angelo Aulisa, assists with developing means to efficiently track memberships with society due payments. President-elect 2, James Wynne, with the growth of our society, prepares to guide our going through a strategic planning effort in coming years. Andrea Lebel is on her second term as Board secretary taking a very active role in meeting planning and reminding us of action items waiting for our contributions. Sunciça Bulat Wuershing is now taking the role of treasurer. She brings many new ideas to the Board and we are developing a more structured budget as we prepare to transition to our Society taking full responsibility of planning meetings in the future. This will lighten the responsibility resting on the shoulders of the local hosts.

Our Board also includes returning members at large Larry Cohen and Lori Dolan. Larry this year, plays a role with the organizing committee of SPINEWEEK 2020 led by Jeb McAviney. Lori continues to play an important role suggesting and carefully planning research mentoring activities. We also welcome two new member at large this year: Sabrina Donzelli and Sanja Schreiber. Both have served productively on SOSORT committees. Sabrina has contributed to improve our membership management processes as chair of the membership committee and Sanja has contributed actively to the educational committee activities in recent years. Both also contributed to past consensuses and guidelines efforts. The Board reflect the interdisciplinary focus of SOSORT with 3 physicians, 1 nurse, 2 orthotists, and 4 physical therapists from 5 countries and 3 continents. Our Board has also reached an equal balance of female:male representation. We further benefit from the input from our advisory board made up of the past presidents which widen our representation even more.

During the coming year, in addition to supporting the activities already outlined for each board member I hope to have each committee and the board adopt a terms of reference outlining key goals, composition and description of how it functions. This will help with future recruitment and to guide our activities. Otherwise, my main goals are as follows.

Complete a review on the outcome measurements and develop consensus surrounding recommendations of outcomes for routine use in conservative treatment. An evidence review will hopefully speed up the adoption of a consensus on what measures to include in a SOSORT collaboration database. This builds on the efforts of Past President De Mauroy where the 6th consensus was published exploring and developing a collaborative database.

Finalize recent initiatives such as our website redevelopment and establish a link with a journal to ensure continued publications of our society's consensuses, guidelines, etc.

Continue to establish more research mentoring strategies by offering mentoring for: abstract submission, presentation preparation, drafting of new project proposal, publication of award papers and other noteworthy research.

Our Society continues to collaborate with key Scoliosis Research Society initiatives including webinars, representation on SRS committees, and consensus efforts..
Once our committees have developed their terms of reference and defined member roles, we will be looking for volunteers. We look forward to adding new faces in the different committees as we continue to grow.

Join us for SPINEWEEK 2020
SOSORT is excited to join SPINEWEEK 2020 in Australia from April 27 to May 1 2020. Join us for our programming on conservative care of spinal deformities and enjoy science presented by members of the other 24 Spine societies meeting at the same time in Melbourne. This is a great opportunity to reach members this far East and learn from experts from all around the world.

Finally, on behalf of the board, I want to express our thanks and congratulations to Grant Wood and his team for hosting an excellent meeting in beautiful San Francisco. The organisation was very professional, attracted a record number of participants to both the pre-course and the main conference, and presented stimulating guest speakers. Special thanks also to Lori Dolan for chairing the scientific committee masterfully and to Sanja Schreiber and Hagit Berdishevsky for planning such a stimulating pre-course of interest to new and old therapists focused on spinal deformities. We understand how much work Grant and his team put in the planning and are very thankful.

SOSORT Board 2019-2020

President

Dr. Eric Parent, PhD, PT

Secretary

Andrea Lebel, PT 

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President Elect 1

Dr. Angelo Aulisa

President Elect 2

Jim Wynne CPO

Treasurer

Dr. Suncica Bulat Würchung, MD

Past President

Luke Stikeleather

Member at large 1

Dr. Lori Dolan, PhD

Member at large 2

Dr Sabrina Donzelli

Member at large 3

Larry Cohen, PT, B.Sc, M.Sc

Member at large 4

Dr. Sanja Schreiber, PhD

Important Message from the Board

As you know, Society on Scoliosis Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) is dedicated to the advancement of the non-operative management of idiopathic scoliosis and other spinal deformities. We believe in spreading knowledge and discussions based on the latest research. Therefore, SOSORT hosts annual meetings where all those involved in treatment can share their experiences with colleagues from all over the world.

In order to optimize the organization of such international events and ensure their success, SOSORT kindly asks all members not to organize local educational events one month prior and one month post SOSORT's international meeting. SOSORT is ready to assist and promote local events that support SOSORT's mission by helping with the program, providing speakers who are SOSORT Board or other members, etc.

During the two months around SOSORT's yearly global meeting, we can not offer our support and thank you for your understanding and not organizing local events during this time.

SRS- webinar is free and available for patients and professional! 

Patient Webinar: Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Presented by SRS and SOSORT:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMaqu4IxZNY

Scoliosis in the Young Child. SRS webinar with  presenters from SOSORT Board member Dr. Nigel Price and SOSORT member Dr. Michael Vitale: http://www.srs.org/patients-and-families/patient-webinars. 

This website is about to move. The Communication Committee is preparing a very exciting new website soon to be online.