Dr. Vanessa K Noonan is a physical therapist, and the focus
of her research and clinical practice has been spinal cord injury. Clinically,
she has practiced in both the SCI acute and rehabilitation settings. Her
research examines processes and outcomes of care following SCI rehabilitation
to move research into practice and create standards of care. Dr. Noonan
obtained her PhD from the UBC School of Population and Public Health in 2009.
Her doctoral thesis examined measures of participation in persons with SCI that
are based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and
Health (ICF) model. She later received a postdoctoral fellowship award from the
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. She had the
opportunity to work with the NIH-sponsored project PROMIS (Patient-Reported
Outcomes Measurement Information System) at the University of Washington. As
Director of Research & Best Practice Implementation, Dr. Noonan is
responsible for leading translational research and best practice implementation
projects at Praxis Spinal Cord Institute. She has been actively involved with
the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry since it started in 2002 and co-led
the development of a new community follow-up questionnaire for the Registry. In
addition, she is part of the International SCI Data Set Committee, which has
overseen the development of 16 data sets that are used internationally.
