Fatimah Ahmedy

Fatimah Ahmedy (Group lead) and Syahiskandar Sybil Shah

Our research group consists of rehabilitation physicians from Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Fatimah Ahmedy, the group leader, is the Deputy Dean Postgraduate & Research of Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences UMS and Syahiskandar Sybil Shah, the group member, is the Head of Rehabilitation Medicine Department QEH. The partnership between these two organisations was established in 2019 and has resulted in several works related to SCI including data collection for InSCI survey, feasibility study on functional assessment measure as predictor for walking in spinal tuberculosis and potential future work on traumatic SCI prognostication based on blood biomarker.

Fatimah (below left) and Syahiskandar (below right) share their experiences from the conference.

As our project revolves around ageing in SCI, the conference enlightened us on critical aspects of ageing as it is not easily defined by age threshold due to premature physiological changes occurring following SCI. We are looking into the perspective of redefining ageing SCI itself, not only based on the age but other biological parameters. It is interesting to be exposed to evaluating and treating psychological aspects of SCI as part of a holistic approach in patient-centred care. Mindfulness therapy is an interesting but unexpected core topic to be covered, nevertheless it facilitates me to deliver comprehensive interventions to my SCI patients. The content & delivery of ISCoS 2022 permits us to benchmark on both provision of rehabilitation services in Sabah and conducting our own regional SCI conference through networking, identifying experts in sub-special areas of interest. Our research group further plans to explore healthcare management for ageing SCI individuals.

Thank you for this opportunity and look forward to attending physically in the ISCoS 2023 at Edinburgh.