About the conference
Opening Remarks
We are delighted to have you with us to participate in our 1st International Rehabilitation Conference organized by the School of Health Sciences of Metropolitan College.
The various aspects of rehabilitation are either the main study area for the majority of the allied-health programmes taught at Metropolitan College, or represent a field of study where many of them converge to. So, this explains the idea of organizing such a conference at MC.
I think it’s worth mentioning for those who do not happen to know it, that the School of Health Sciences is by far the largest among Colleges in our region, offering 10 programmes of study in collaboration with 4 UK Universities and almost 200 contracted clinical placements. The students’ population has now reached the number of more than 2200 across the 7 campuses in Greece, whereas the number of academic staff is more than 250 across all programmes of study of this specific School.
This is a great moment for the School of Health Sciences as the opening of this Conference marks the start of a new chapter of its history. As stated by Dimitris Diamantis, Director General at Metropolitan College.



Learning from the Experts
International Speakers

Professor Brendan McCormack D.Phil (Oxon.), BSc (Hons.), FRCN, FEANS, FRCSI, FRSA, PGCEA, RMN, RGN
Head of the Divisions of Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Art Therapies; Head of the Graduate School; Associate Director, Centre for Person-centred Practice Research, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
Professor II, University of South Eastern Norway, Drammen, Norway; Extraordinary Professor, Department of Nursing, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Professor of Nursing, Maribor University, Slovenia; Visiting Professor, Ulster University; Adjunct Professor, Canberra University Australia.
Brendan’s internationally recognised work in person-centred practice development and research has resulted in successful long-term collaborations in Ireland, the UK, Norway, The Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Slovenia and South Africa. His writing and research work focuses on person-centred practice, gerontological nursing, and practice development and he serves on a number of editorial boards, policy committees, funding panels and development groups in these areas. He has a particular focus on the use of arts and creativity in healthcare research and development. Brendan has more than 600 published outputs, including 190 peer-reviewed publications in international journals and 10 books. He is the ‘Editor Emeritus’ of the “International Journal of Older People Nursing”. Brendan is a Fellow of The European Academy of Nursing Science, Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In 2014 he was awarded the ‘International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame’ by Sigma Theta Tau International and listed in the Thomson Reuters 3000 most influential researchers globally. In 2015 he was recognized as an ‘Inspirational Nursing Leader’ by Nursing Times (UK nursing magazine) and in 2019 was listed in the New Year ‘Top 100 outstanding nurses’ by the Twitter Group #wenurses.

Professor Fiona Coutts PhD MSc MCSP
Dean of School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Chair of Council of Deans of Health Scotland
Professor Coutts took up appointment as Dean of the School of Health Sciences at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in September 2010. As Dean of the School of Health Sciences she leads academic, clinical and research development across the School The School has the broadest range of pre registration health programmes in Scotland and offers some professional programmes which are unique in Scotland e.g. Music Therapy, Art Therapy, Play Therapy, Hearing Aid Audiology etc.
Professor Coutts represents the School on a number of internal committees including Court, Senate, School Academic Board, International and Research Committees and is chair of the University wide Student Experience Committee.
Professor Coutts is the Convenor of the Council of Deans of Health Scotland (CoDHS) and represents CoDHS at the UK forum and at many Scottish Government committees. These have included the review of the bursary for Nursing Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHP) in Scotland; NHS Education Scotland (NES) National Strategic Educational Alliance and the HCPC review of Professional Standards. Previously as Chair of the AHP strategic Academic Heads group she was part of the collaboration group with Scottish Government to review funding for AHP student expenses. These strategic roles offer the opportunity for Professor Coutts to have an overview of clinical, educational and research priorities for health and the interaction of these groups to the betterment of individuals and wider agencies. Professor Coutts is also a Trustee of the Queen’s Nursing Institute for Scotland.
The ultimate objective in the role of Dean is to remain cognisant of the ever changing landscape of delivery of healthcare and clinical expectations, (public, 3rd sector and private provision) in Scotland and the UK, which directly impacts on and influences the education of health care professionals.
With a background in Physiotherapy, Professor Coutts still maintains her research interest in Human Movement, Movement Science, Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, Breast Cancer Care, and models of Health Care education.

Anand David Pandyan
Professor of Rehabilitation Technology & Head of the School of Health and Rehabilitation, Keele University, UK
Professor Anand Pandyan is the Head of the School of Health and Rehabilitation at Keele University. He completed his undergraduate training in India and then worked at the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore. In 1993 he emigrated to the UK to read for a PhD on full Scholarship at Strathclyde University. On completion of his doctoral studies in 1997 he worked for 5-years as a post-Doctoral Researcher with the Center for Rehabilitation and Engineering Studies at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Anand joined Keele University as a Lecturer in 2002 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2007 and in 2011 he was awarded a personal chair as the Professor of Rehabilitation Technology. He has a broad portfolio of responsibilities and has excelled as an academic and research leader. His research has focused on preventing significant complications in severely disabled patients and he is internationally recognised for his work on spasticity and in the role of assistive technology in neurological rehabilitation. He has attracted research income in excess of £4 million and authored more than 50 major academic journal articles. Anand has presented his research findings at more than 100 national and international conferences and is a highly regarded and engaging keynote speaker. He currently supervises all levels of undergraduate and postgraduate research and 20 students have completed their research training under his guidance. Anand advises international and national grant awarding bodies and is an expert consultant to several pharmaceutical companies. As an academic leader he has significant curriculum development and implementation experience and has been recognised for implementing efficient operational and QA processes. His most recent achievement has been replacing the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy curriculum with a 4-year integrated MSc (Physiotherapy). He has led the transformation of a single programme School into a multi-programme School of Allied Health Professions with a substantial research portfolio that will contribute to the 2025 REF submission. He has experience of managing franchise activities and partnership development with both academia and industry.

Professor Helen Dawes
Director of the Centre for Movement, Occupational Sciences (MOReS) and Scientific Manager of the Oxford Clinical Allied Technology and Trial Services Unit (OxCATTS)
Helen has developed a sustainable, vibrant, multidisciplinary research group with an established international reputation, consisting of innovative talented researchers who embrace a multidisciplinary collaborative approach, and am currently involved in ongoing clinical trials across the world that involve over 45,000 people within her appointments at both Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University and the local NHS trusts. In addition to generating over 190 publications, two patents and four book chapters, Helen’s research has been translated into teaching, practice and clinical training locally, nationally and internationally. As Deputy Chair of the Oxford Institute for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research (OxINMAHR), which is nested within the Oxford Academic Health Science Centre, one of only six Department of Health accredited centres of excellence, and her role within the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Helen is engaged in wide public involvement programs and numerous multidisciplinary collaborations that lead to improvements in patient care, community health, and enriching environments for her research team. Locally, Helen’s research is translated into practice through the Community Exercise and Rehabilitation (CLEAR) Trust, which provides specialist equipment and rehabilitation facilities, enabling children and adults with long-term neurological or degenerative disorders to participate in physical exercise and rehabilitation programmes. Helen is a Co-Investigator on grants worth over £42 million and Principal Investigator on grants worth £1.3 million, and has supervised 18 successful PhD completions to date, and currently supervises 7 externally funded PhD students including a Fulbright Scholar. Helen hosts approximately 7 visiting researchers from BSc/PhD level each year and provides mentorship to internal and external research staff.
OFFICIAL ORGANIZER
Conference Programme at a Glance
Friday | Saturday | Sunday | ||||||
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Amphitheater | Room A3 | Room A1 | Amphitheater | Room A3 | Room A1 | Amphitheater | Room A3 | Room A1 |
09.00 REGISTRATION |
09.00 Keynote Speech - Prof. Fiona Coutts, QMU Does Rehabilitation post surgery or cancer treatment start with Pre-habilitation? |
09.00 Keynote speech - Prof. Anand Pandyan, Keele University Electrical Stimulation in the acute rehabilitation of stroke patients: To stimulate or not? |
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10.00 OPENING CEREMONY |
10.00 Special Session: MSK Rehabilitation |
10.00 Round table: An interdisciplinary approach for psychosocial rehabilitation in children with HFA at a greek private center |
10.00 Round table: Interdisciplinary assessment of a patient with hemiplegia |
10.00 GROUP C POSTERS |
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10.20 SPECIAL SESSION An interprofessional approach to rehabilitation practice |
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11.20 - Coffee break & Networking |
11.20 - Coffee break & Networking |
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11.40 Round table: Optimizing Caridac Rehabilitation to improve outcome. |
11.40 Individual Presentations |
11.40 GROUP B POSTERS |
11.40 Keynote Speech -Prof. Helen Dawes, OBU Exercise in the wild: Exercise for Neurological Conditions |
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12.20 - Coffee break & Networking |
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12.40 Special Session: Occupation in rehabilitation |
12.40 Workshop (in Greek): Promoting collaboration throuh communication |
12.40 GROUP A POSTERS |
12.40 Individual presentations |
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14.00 - Lunch break |
13.00 - Lunch break |
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14.00 Keynote Speech - Prof. Brendan McCormack QMU Person -centred rehabilitation: the person comes first. |
13.20 - Lunch break |
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14.20 Special Session: Enabling Patients To Improve Their Quality Of Life |
14.20 Special Session: Disability in the community |
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15.00 Round table: An interdisciplinary approach to neurodevelopmental disorders in ELEPAP - Rehabilitation for the disabled |
15.00 Workshop: Interdisciplinary collaboration in voice therpy |
15.00 Individual Presentations |
15.00 Special Session: SLT interventions in rehabilitation |
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16.20 - Coffee break & Networking |
16.20
Closing Keynote Dr. P. Siaperas, Metropolitan College The cotemporary role of rehabilitaion for people's well-being |
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17.00- Coffee break & Networking |
16.40 Plenary workshop - Robotic technology in rehabilitation |
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17.20 Round table: MS and Neurorehabilitation -New Perspectives |
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17.40 Individual presentations |
Conference Programme at a Glance
Conference Location
Venue Details
Metropolitan College
The 1st International Rehabilitation Conference will take place at Metropolitan College, Maroussi Campus, from 7 to 9 of February, 2020. With 37 years of experience in Greek tertiary education, Metropolitan College collaborates with distinguished universities abroad in order to offer academic programmes that lead to contemporary technical and scientific knowledge and respond to the current demands of the national and international employment market. Moreover, Metropolitan College is the only College in Greece which became an associate member of the Compostela Group of Universities. Since 1982 and until today, Metropolitan College’s main priority is the continuous development of critical thinking, academic progress and academic research spirit for each of our students.
Address:
74, Sorou str., Maroussi, Greece, 151 25