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PONI - Pediatric Onset of Neuromotor Impairments Lab

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PONI - Pediatric Onset of Neuromotor Impairments Lab

The PONI Lab, based in the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary, AB, Canada, works with individuals with neuromotor impairments to conduct research.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Elizabeth Condliffe

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12/19/2025

📺 Check out this awesome video from Apple! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmFPWxjmnqE

The video highlights how Apple designs their products with accessibility considerations in mind for people with disabilities. Additionally, the video highlights a really important message about the social constructs of disability; it’s titled “I’m Not Remarkable,” a statement to how individuals living with disabilities aren’t ‘special,’ just like how people living without disabilities aren’t ‘special.’ Put simply, all people are people, and even though the ways in which different people live their lives may vary, that doesn’t mean one person is more remarkable than another. Apple suggests we embrace the uniqueness of our society and recognize that we all have strengths and weaknesses.

It’s encouraging to see accessibility take center stage as it has in this ad— it motivates us to keep learning, listening, and building alongside the individuals and communities we work with.

12/15/2025

Meet the team!⭐️

We are thrilled to introduce Sabrina Marsha Buharideen, who currently works as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Vi Riddell Centre for Children’s Pain and Rehabilitation at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. At the PONI Lab, she’ll be focusing on analyzing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs). She holds a master’s research degree in virology and immunology from the University of Calgary, a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from the University of Mysore, India, and an MPhil in Medical Microbiology from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

She is passionate about education and research, having built her career at the intersection of these fields. She began as a Research Assistant in the Histopathology Department, University of Peradeniya, before moving into academia as an Associate Lecturer in Medical Microbiology and Molecular Biology at the BMS School of Science, affiliated with Northumbria University, UK. She later taught as a Medical Office Assistant Instructor at Heritage College, delivering courses in Medical Terminology, Human Physiology and Medical Law. At the same time, she volunteered at the University of Calgary’s Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute on gene-expression studies in prostate and breast cancer cells. Over the course of her career, she has published eight journal articles and contributed to several local and international conference proceedings.

Her career goal is to establish herself as a successful clinical researcher dedicated to improving patient care. She aims to contribute to high-quality research (particularly in PROMs and PREMs) to ensure that patient experiences and outcomes inform clinical practice and drive meaningful healthcare improvements.

Outside of work, she enjoys exploring new places, trying different cuisines, and going on road trips.

12/08/2025

🦿 📝 Participate in research!

Have you ever used or been interested in using a robotic-assisted walking device? Do you support someone who does, or would like one? Have you ever prescribed one for your patients? We want to hear from you!

We’re conducting a study to better understand the barriers and supports to accessing robotic-assisted walking devices.

Participation is simple: no in-person visits or large time commitments, just a short online survey about your experiences that you can access right from this post (check out the second image!).

Your input will help uncover barriers and guide strategies to improve accessibility, ensuring more people benefit from robotic walking devices. Share your experience and help shape the future of mobility and innovative interventions today!

📍 Interested? Check out the picture on the left to access the survey QR codes or email poni.lab@ucalgary.ca for more information.

12/05/2025

🦌🛷 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at the PONI Lab!

This week, the PONI Lab team put on our holiday alter-ego, the PONI Express and got into the holiday spirit, dressing up the lab door for this year’s ACH C.A.R.E.S. Holiday Door Decorating competition.

We went for a western theme, complete with horses and a prairie wagon with our very own Dr. Elizabeth Condliffe at the reins. You may notice our Christmas tree as well, which has your standard-fare ornaments switched out for pictures of the PONI Lab members in horseshoe homes.

If you’re over at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, remember to take a look at all the fun doors that are dressed up right now, and swing by C1-405 to take a closer look at our creation! Big thanks to all the team members who pulled together the supplies and creativity needed to get crafting this week.

Happy holidays from the PONI Lab to you!

12/03/2025

✨ Join us today in recognizing International Day of Persons with Disabilities!

Individuals living with disabilities, including the pediatric neuromotor impairments we research in the lab, face challenges every day, but as a global community, we’ve made great strides in improving accessibility. Today is a day to recognize the remaining barriers these individuals face.

This year’s theme is “Fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress,” meaning people all around the world are coming together to find ways in which they can change social structures to not just better adapt to the needs of individuals with disabilities, but to promote a better global community. UN leaders and other representatives came together today to discuss frameworks that provide tools to integrate disability inclusion, promising practices that are providing strong benefits for persons with disabilities, and future steps to keep overcoming barriers. If you’d like to learn more about these events, follow this link: https://www.un.org/en/observances/day-of-persons-with-disabilities

At the lab, we are dedicated to continuing our research on finding new ways to improve quality of life and health for individuals living with neuromotor impairments. We are thrilled that results from our robotic and assistive walking, power training, and motion capture studies have provided benefits to individuals with disabilities. Today and every day, let’s keep working on making the world a better place for everyone!

11/25/2025

⚙️🚶 Meet the Agilik!

We’ve mentioned the Agilik a couple of times here on our social media, but do you know what exactly it is? If not, here's a quick intro!

The Agilik is a smart orthosis made to support those with impaired knee extension and flexion. Advanced sensors built into the device are able to detect the different phases of gait that occur as a person walks and from there, the Agilik can automatically apply force to the knee to support or resist movement. Therapists and researchers are able to adjust the amount of force applied and when it occurs to provide the desired levels of support.

Here at PONI lab, we’re currently looking at the rehabilitative impacts that gait training with the Agilik can have. Stick around to learn more about what we find and our future plans with the Agilik!

11/17/2025

We are saddened to hear that Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and author, has passed away. She lived her life with spinal muscular atrophy, a neuromuscular disorder, which, despite being a physically debilitating condition, didn’t stop her from being a strong voice for people with disabilities. Likewise, Alice was a strong advocate for eliminating ableism as well as promoting disability rights and justice, especially for those in marginalized communities. She was the founder of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community focused on sharing and promoting understanding of disability culture. Alice lived her life attempting to help all people in society understand and become motivated to address the challenges people with disabilities live with every day. Let’s honour the legacy she leaves behind because it is one that will help pave the way for better lives for all those living with neuromotor and other disabilities.

11/14/2025

🔬🌐 Communicating science with impact!

On October 29th, the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, in collaboration with the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute, hosted the 7th Annual Open Science in Action Symposium which examined practical applications of Open Science throughout the research lifecycle, from study design and data collection to infrastructure, analysis, and real-world outcomes.

PONI Lab was well-represented this year by Erin, Jess, and Amanda, each presenting on open science and its implementation in their own work. Amanda also helped organize the symposium! This was a great opportunity to help advance a more open and inclusive research future that we at PONI hope to be a part of.

Until next year!

11/10/2025

📣Are you interested in working for the PONI Lab?

We’re hiring! We’re seeking an organized, motivated, and personable individual to join our team as a Research Assistant. They’ll be working alongside our diverse team of individuals with backgrounds in engineering, kinesiology, physiotherapy, medicine, and neuroscience. The work will involve diving into the exciting results of some of our research, having an opportunity to contribute to the advancement of projects, as well as many opportunities to interact with our amazing research participants.

Interested? You could be the next PONI! Follow the link below to learn more about how to apply.🧭

https://internal.careers.ucalgary.ca/jobs/17008171-research-assistant-clinical-neurosciences

11/08/2025

On Saturday, November 1, some of us PONIes went to the CP Kids and Families Neuromotor Resource Expo. It was a day filled with showcases of adaptive exercise equipment, novel therapy strategies, and other unique supports to improve the lives of people living with cerebral palsy and other neuromotor impairments. We had several booths at the event to share our work with the Trexo robotic walkers, the power training program RIPT, and the Agilik smart orthosis.

🎤 Dr. Condliffe and some of our other lab members were asked to share their experiences on CTV News and French Radio-Canada. Check out the articles linked below!

We’d like to thank all of the volunteers, organizers, and families that helped make the day great. Hopefully next year we can do it again!

11/07/2025

Check out what we did last weekend!🗓️

On Saturday, November 1, some of us PONIes went to the CP Kids and Families Neuromotor Resource Expo. It was a day filled with showcases of adaptive exercise equipment, novel therapy strategies, and other unique supports to improve the lives of people living with cerebral palsy and other neuromotor impairments. We had several booths at the event to share our work with the Trexo robotic walkers, the power training program RIPT, and the Agilik smart orthosis.

🎤 Dr. Condliffe and some of our other lab members were asked to share their experiences on CTV News and French Radio-Canada. Check out the articles:

CTV News: https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/families-living-with-cerebral-palsy-gather-for-neuromotor-resource-expo-in-calgary/

Radio-Canada: https://www.msn.com/fr-ca/actualites/ouest-canadien/la-recherche-pour-r%C3%A9pondre-aux-d%C3%A9fis-de-la-paralysie-c%C3%A9r%C3%A9brale/ar-AA1PDLnz

We’d like to thank all of the volunteers, organizers, and families that helped make the day great. Hopefully next year we can do it again!

11/07/2025

Check out what we did last weekend!🗓️

On Saturday, November 1, some of us PONIes went to the CP Kids and Families Neuromotor Resource Expo. It was a day filled with showcases of adaptive exercise equipment, novel therapy strategies, and other unique supports to improve the lives of people living with cerebral palsy and other neuromotor impairments. We had several booths at the event to share our work with the Trexo robotic walkers, the power training program RIPT, and the Agilik smart orthosis.

🎤Dr. Condliffe and some of our other lab members were asked to share their experiences on CTV News and French Radio-Canada. Check out the articles:

CTV News: https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/families-living-with-cerebral-palsy-gather-for-neuromotor-resource-expo-in-calgary/

Radio-Canada: https://www.msn.com/fr-ca/actualites/ouest-canadien/la-recherche-pour-r%C3%A9pondre-aux-d%C3%A9fis-de-la-paralysie-c%C3%A9r%C3%A9brale/ar-AA1PDLnz

We’d like to thank all of the volunteers, organizers, and families that helped make the day great. Hopefully next year we can do it again!

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