Frequently Asked Questions about iDAPT
What is iDAPT?
Where will iDAPT be located?
When will iDAPT be completed?
How will iDAPT encourage collaboration in rehabilitation research?
How is iDAPT funded?
How will iDAPT research help those with disabilities?
Will iDAPT research have an impact on Canada's economy?
What is iDAPT?
iDAPT - Intelligent Design for Adaptation, Participation and Technology - is the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute’s $36 million rehabilitation research initiative. In collaboration with the University of Toronto, Toronto Rehab is building one of the world’s most advanced rehabilitation research facilities where new therapies and assistive technologies will be developed for people recovering from, and living with, disabling injury or illness or age-related conditions.
How will iDAPT research help those with disabilities?
Current assistive technologies often do not function well in challenging environments, are generally not attractively designed or as user-friendly as consumers would like them to be. iDAPT facilities will enable researchers to safely study the complex interactions between people and their environments, and deliver innovative and well-designed products that consumers will actually use.
Led by Geoff Fernie, Vice President of Research at Toronto Rehab, iDAPT researchers will aim to develop practical solutions to everyday challenges. Research will focus on helping people with disabilities and those with age-related conditions to adapt to their new limitations and challenges and to regain the physical and mental abilities they need to get on with their lives. For example, by simulating environmental challenges like walking on icy sidewalks or simply walking up stairs, iDAPT researchers will be able to develop practical solutions to real-life obstacles and hazards older people and those with disabilities encounter every day.
Where will iDAPT be located?
iDAPT facilities will be located in Canada's Discovery District in downtown Toronto. iDAPT labs and workshops will be housed at the hospital’s redeveloped University Centre (550 University Avenue, Toronto), at Toronto Rehab's Lyndhurst Centre (520 Sutherland Drive, Toronto) and at the Rehabilitation Sciences Building of the University of Toronto (500 University Avenue, Toronto).
When will iDAPT be completed?
Construction of iDAPT facilities is now underway. For more information about construction news, check out Facility Updates.
How is iDAPT funded?
Contributions from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Innovation Trust, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, University of Toronto, the Toronto Rehab Foundation and our corporate partners have laid the foundation for the development of iDAPT and the future of rehabilitation research.
Additional information about iDAPT funders and partners.
How will iDAPT attract academic and research collaboration?
iDAPT will bring individuals with varied disciplines and backgrounds together within closely interactive teams organized along problem-based themes, rather than disciplinary or departmental lines. Scientists, research students, clinicians and social scientists will work alongside engineers and industrial designers to create a unique environment where investigators will study and develop solutions to these problems.
Dr. Geoff Fernie, Toronto Rehab's Vice President, Research, will lead iDAPT in collaboration with investigators from the University of Toronto and other major Canadian academic centres including: Dalhousie University, Laval University, McGill University, Simon Fraser University, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.
Important new partnerships will be developed with the following international academic institutions: Bath Institute of Medical Engineering in Britain, University of Dundee in Scotland, University of Florida, University of Michigan, Netherlands Institute of Applied Science, University of Washington and SUNY at Buffalo.
Existing relationships with Bloorview Kids Rehab and the Centre for Studies in Aging at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre will be strengthened through the involvement of rehabilitation engineering research teams.
Will iDAPT research have an impact on Canada's economy?
As a leading centre in Canada for the development of assistive technologies and treatments, iDAPT research will provide the emerging assistive devices sector in Ontario and Canada with an important boost and competitive advantage, leading to job creation and economic growth.
According to Statistics Canada, the cost of disability to the Canadian economy is estimated at $60 billion annually: only 42% of adults with disabilities are employed while 74% of adults without disabilities are in the workforce. It is expected that levels of unemployment, underemployment and lost working time for adults with disabilities will be reduced by new assistive technologies and effective treatments made possible by iDAPT research.