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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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02/17/2026

📖 Shaping the future of child/maternal health research

The PONI Lab is proud to be a member of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, one of Canada’s most active, collaborative child and maternal health research communities!

In the last five years, ACHRI’s secured major research investments and continues to grow its membership, supporting more than 400 researchers across 10 faculties in research operations, knowledge dissemination, trainee education, and more. Child health and wellness research now represents 20% of the University of Calgary's research — we’re proud to contribute to this work here at the PONI Lab and we’re continually thankful for the support that makes it possible, like that of ACHRI’s, our patient partners, and the families we work with.

ACHRI continues to grow, bringing patient care and research teams closer together and leveraging funding to support world-class care. For more information about ACHRI’s work in the last 5 years, check out their impact report here: https://online.fliphtml5.com/achri-impact-report-21-25/ACHRI_5Year_Report_Final_Jan21/ =1

02/13/2026

Your CP story matters!

The Cerebral Palsy Research Network has invited individuals to submit photos as part of their 5th annual photo contest. It’s a great way to share your personal story or one from your community in preparation for Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month in March. Anyone can submit a photo and there will be cash prizes for the top winners. After submitting, you are invited to encourage people to vote for your submission and donate to the Cerebral Palsy Research Network to raise awareness. The deadline for submissions is March 15th. Interested? Follow the following link to learn more and submit your photo! https://cprn.org/your-cp-story-matters-join-our-5th-annual-photo-contest/

02/09/2026

Hockey Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee have announced the 17-player roster representing the Canadian Paralympic Team in Para Ice Hockey at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, and members of Calgary’s very own Sledge Hockey Association helped to unveil the roster!

❄︎ Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzvGy49gT4w

This year’s Paralympic Winter Games will take place from March 6 to 15 and feature athletes competing in six sports, including para alpine skiing, para ice hockey, para nordic skiing, para snowboard, and wheelchair curling — keep up with the competition for free next month on CBC Gem.

02/06/2026

Meet the team! ✨

We are excited to introduce Abby Ackroyd, our newest Research Coordinator. Abby has her BSc in Biological Sciences and MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Binghamton University in Upstate New York, where she was playing NCAA Division I tennis. She has worked in medical research since her first year of university, focusing on behavioural interventions to increase living donor kidney transplants, followed by a systematic review examining Electronic Health Record interventions to decrease hospital readmissions. Abby continues to work with a nephrology group in Calgary on various projects. In the future, Abby hopes to continue being involved in medical interventions that use new technologies and innovations to improve patients' lives. In her free time, she enjoys reading, travelling, going on walks, and playing sports.

02/02/2026

Join us in rallying around kids in our community and the compassionate experts who care for them at the Alberta Children’s Hospital by tuning in to the Country 105 Caring for Kids Radiothon this week from February 4th-6th, and donating if the cause resonates with you and you have the means to!

Across the three Monthly Miracle Match Power Hours, ACHRI-led research and innovation will take center stage. It’s a simple, meaningful way for people who care deeply about research to support work that hopes to help kids now and into the future and get to know more about it.

If you’re interested in signing up to become a Miracle Maker monthly donor as well, your generosity will be matched by Tom Crist and the Crist Family Foundation for an entire year!

For more information about the Radiothon, check out this link: https://my.childrenshospital.ab.ca/campaign/country-105-caring-for-kids-radiothon/c755310

02/02/2026

(Re-post from January 16 2026)

Happy New Year everyone! 🎉

2025 was an exciting and productive year, full of new learning and many accomplishments. We’re looking forward to making 2026 a great year too… but before we do, we wanted to reflect on everything that happened in 2025!

Many of our studies made great strides last year. For instance, We were able to get over 100 new participants in for our motion capture study and over 50 new participants to try robotic walking for various studies. Data collection for our Agilik project began with our first case series participant. Our power training study, RIPT, saw two cohorts of participants successfully complete the program, achieving their goals and improving their functional mobility. Also, some of the bone health studies associated with our lab’s projects wrapped up last year.

Speaking of wrapping up, 2025 saw the publication of results from some of our studies and the opportunity for some of our lab members to present their work from local to international settings.

And with the progression of our research, we also saw our team expand and were pleased to welcome Markus, Janelle, and Sabrina to the PONI Lab team.

Overall, 2025 was a fantastic year, and we’re thankful to our amazing research participants and everyone else who helps with the lab for making it awesome. Here’s to 2026! ✨

01/26/2026

Soccer time! ⚽️

Soccability and the GOOD Games Calgary are hosting an adapted soccer showcase on Sunday, February 15 at Stampede Park. There are a few different sessions, including ones for blind soccer, individuals with cerebral palsy, adult para athletes, and individuals with other disabilities. It’ll be a great opportunity to get active and learn more about adaptive soccer. If you’re interested, follow the QR code on this post to learn more about the event and register.

01/19/2026

Check out this Trexo feature!

Meet Marc — a Trexo sales specialist whose son, Mitchell, has a rare genetic condition affecting his mobility and uses a Trexo Robotic device. In this video presented by the Toyota Mobility Foundation, Marc talks about his family’s journey, Mitchell’s experience with getting and using the Trexo, and what mobility means to them.

It’s a great watch for those who’d like to see the more personal end to what leads families to devices like the Trexo.

Want to hear the full story? Check out the video through this link: https://www.bbc.com/storyworks/age-of-automation/toyota-mobility-foundation

01/16/2026

Happy New Year everyone! 🎉

2025 was an exciting and productive year, full of new learning and many accomplishments. We’re looking forward to making 2026 a great year too… but before we do, we wanted to reflect on everything that happened in 2025!

Many of our studies made great strides last year. For instance, We were able to get over 100 new participants in for our motion capture study and over 50 new participants to try robotic walking for various studies. Data collection for our Agilik project began with our first case series participant. Our power training study, RIPT, saw two cohorts of participants successfully complete the program, achieving their goals and improving their functional mobility. Also, some of the bone health studies associated with our lab’s projects wrapped up last year.

Speaking of wrapping up, 2025 saw the publication of results from some of our studies and the opportunity for some of our lab members to present their work from local to international settings.

And with the progression of our research, we also saw our team expand and were pleased to welcome Markus, Janelle, and Sabrina to the PONI Lab team.

Overall, 2025 was a fantastic year, and we’re thankful to our amazing research participants and everyone else who helps with the lab for making it awesome. Here’s to 2026! ✨

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.

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