IAACD  Executive Committee Members

During the transition period when the organization according to the constitution is build up, a Steering Group will execute the tasks of the Executive Committee.

Christine Imms
President

Christine Imms

Christine Imms (BAppSc(OT), MSc(RS), PhD) is Professor of Occupational Therapy and Co-Director of the Centre for Disability and Development Research: Diversity across the Lifespan at the Australian Catholic University. Christine holds an Honorary Research Affiliation at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, as well as at CanCHILD Centre for Childhood Disability Research in Canada as an International Scientist.

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Arnab Seal
Secretary

Arnab Seal

Arnab Seal is a Consultant neurodevelopmental paediatrician based in Leeds, U.K. He works in the UK National Health Service and is a Course Organiser of the MSc Paediatrics Course of the University of Leeds. Arnab’s interests are in medical education and training, particularly in the developing world. He is also a member of the Global Professional Education Committee and is the current Chair of the European Academy of Childhood Disability.

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Joshua Hyman
Treasurer

Joshua Hyman

Joshua E. Hyman, MD, is a nationally and globally renowned specialist in the care of children with cerebral palsy and lower extremity deformity. His clinical interests as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon also include hip diseases and dysplasia, neuromuscular disorders, limb length differences, and complex fracture care.

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Peter Rosenbaum
Member at large

Peter Rosenbaum

Peter joined the faculty of McMaster University in July 1973 and has been a Professor of Pediatrics since 1984. He held an inaugural Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs (2001- 2014). In 1989, Peter co-founded the award-winning CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, a health system-linked research unit now recognized world-wide for its research and dissemination activities. 

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Kirsty Stewart
Member at large

Kirsty Stewart

Kirsty Stewart is a senior occupational therapist in Kids Rehab at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead with extensive clinical and research experience in cerebral palsy, movement disorders and neuromodulation interventions. Kirsty completed a two-year knowledge transfer fellowship in dyskinetic cerebral palsy through the Centre of Research Excellence in Cerebral Palsy, 2017 to 2018.

Mauricio Delgado-Ayala
Member at large

Mauricio Delgado-Ayala

Dr. Mauricio R. Delgado-Ayala received his medical degree from the University of Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. He received certification in neurology with special competence in child neurology and neurophysiology from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Delgado-Ayala is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. In 2019, he became president of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. He is a co-founder member of the Mexican Academy for Cerebral palsy and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities.

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Gillian Saloojee
Member at large

Gillian Saloojee

Dr. Gillian Saloojee is a paediatric physiotherapist with a special interest in working with children with disabilities and their families living in rural resource-constrained African settings. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Malamulele Onward, a non-profit organization providing therapy services and caregiver training to children with cerebral palsy living in poor, rural areas of Southern Africa.

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Jorge Carranza-Del Rio
Member at large

Jorge Carranza-Del Rio

Dr. Jorge Carranza del Rio is a specialist in pediatric neurology and neurorehabilitation with special interest in children and adults with cerebral palsy and movement disorders.

Dr. Carranza graduated as Medical Doctor by Universidad La Salle, trained as a Pediatrician at Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gómez and sub-specialized in Pediatric Neurology at Centro Médico Nacional 20 de Noviembre ISSSTE by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He successfully completed a two-year fellowship on Pediatric Neurorehabilitation at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children / University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

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Xiaojie Li
Member at large

Xiaojie Li

Xiaojie Li, M.D. Professor, Chief Pediatrician of Rehab. Medicine, Doctoral and Master Supervisor; Chief Expert of The Rehab. Center for Child Cerebral Palsy and The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University; Honorary president, College of Rehab. Medicine, Jiamusi University; Honorary director of the Key Laboratory of Pediatric Neurological Rehab. in Heilongjiang Province; Director of the Institute of Pediatric Neurological Disease, Jiamusi University; Enjoy the Special allowance of the State Council.

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Thennakoon Haluge Rasika Samanmalee
Member at large

Thennakoon Haluge Rasika Samanmalee

I am T.H Rasika Samanmalee currently working as a Lecturer in Social Work at the Department of Psychiatry Faculty of the Medicine University of Colombo. I am an MPhil leading to PhD candidate at the Faculty of Medicine in the field of social work. My research interesting areas are child and family social work, community engagement, and parent support. Also, I am attached to the University Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit at Lady Ridgway Hospital for Children, Colombo Sri Lanka. Presently I am an active Council member at the Sri Lanka Association for the Child Development.