The Rick Hansen Foundation’s mission is to inspire others to share in the achievement of big dreams that accelerate improvements to the quality of life of people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

At the heart of this mission is the innovative Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Network, an initiative that brings together people with SCI, researchers and service providers to implement solutions that respond to the self-identified priority needs of people with SCI.

A primary focus of the Network is the development of a research infrastructure. The Rick Hansen SCI Registry is a fundamental component of this strategy that provides invaluable information by tracking, storing and relating data about clinical treatments provided to people with SCI. This information can be used by researchers and clinicians to better understand the impact and effectiveness of specific medical interventions over the course of an individuals lifetime.

As the Registry grows, the data collected will help to establish and validate best practices that will ultimately provide better outcomes for individuals with SCI and assist in translating promising research into innovations that accelerate customized solutions against priority needs for Canadians living with SCI to help improve their quality of life. The Registry currently has active sites in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Additional sites in Newfoundland and New Brunswick are in the initial planning stages and expect to begin enrolling participants in 2009/2010. 

The National Registry will collect comprehensive nation wide SCI data for the purpose of improving SCI care and clinical outcomes. The Registry will promote, encourage and support the pursuit of excellence in SCI health care management.

Researchers value the Registry as the foundation that supports their involvement in SCI research. They use the Registry to identify and validate research opportunities, to aid their pursuit of funding and industry partnerships, and ultimately to support leading edge research that facilitates the development and validation of effective interventions and therapies.

Health care providers identify and access their patients’ data relevant to the Registry, and consult the Registry as a tool to gauge effectiveness of clinical interventions in the acute, rehabilitation, and community settings

Managers and decision makers consult the Registry for data on system performance, service planning, and developing effective health policy

1. Clinical support and management
   To promote, encourage and develop an efficient and effective national SCI data retrieval and management reporting service.
   
2. Research support
   To create a clinical and epidemiological based information service in order to promote collaboration between scientists and clinicians, and support true translational research and provincial, national and international data exchange and collaboration.
   
3. Partnerships and quality improvement
   To demonstrate flexibility and adaptability in helping partners to achieve their SCI information goals.
   
4. Quality data and information
   To ensure the data quality of the national Registry.
   
5. To remain current with changing trends and issues in health care management

RHSCIR National Operations

• Dr. Marcel Dvorak, RHSCIR Medical Director
• Ms.Catherine McGuinness, RHSCIR Managing Director
• Mr. Robert Hickling, RHSCIR Director of Information Technology
• Ms. Vanessa Noonan, RHSCIR Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Mr. Hongbin Zhang, RHSCIR Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Ms. Lise Belanger, RHSCIR Consultant/Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Mr. John Cobb, RHSCIR Consultant/Occupational Therapist
• Ms. Kristen Walden, RHSCIR Site Coordinator/Physical Therapist 
• Mr. Stephen Gage, RHSCIR Privacy Officer
• Miss Iva Tomic, RHSCIR Executive Coordinator

RHSCIR Executive Scientific Committee

RHSCIR Data Access Committee - approves all RHSCIR data use requests