
Rehab for Kids conference
The Rehab for Kids conference is a national conference organised by the Queensland Paediatric Rehabilitation Service (QPRS), Queensland Children’s Hospital, to provide the latest information and research relevant to paediatric rehabilitation.
Dedicated streams with a variety of presentation types, including key note addresses, short workshops and research papers, will provide you with opportunities to update knowledge and network with colleagues involved in the rehabilitation of children with brain injuries, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, limb difference, spina bifida and other low incidence conditions.
Who can benefit from attending?
- Health professionals
- Other professionals who work with children who have received rehabilitation
- Parents/carers of children who have received rehabilitation
- Students
- Researchers
Parents/carers of children who have received rehabilitation are invited to register and attend this conference. We value our parents and carers participation and would like to offer the opportunity to attend the conference at a reduced cost. Families are also invited to attend a parent/carer networking session at no cost.
Some conference content may be limited to health professionals where applicable.
Content and case studies presented at the conference is not intended to replace qualified medical or health related advice. If parents/carers have any concerns or questions arising from the conference in relation to the care for their child, these should be discussed with their QPRS health professional.
Keynote speakers

He graduated from the University of Queensland with a medical degree in 1991. Following speciality training in obstetrics and gynaecology, Dr Gardener went on to sub-specialise in maternal fetal medicine, working at King George V Hospital in Sydney and University College Hospital in London. Dr Gardener returned to Mater in 2003 as a consultant in Maternal Fetal Medicine, becoming Director of the Mater Centre for Maternal Fetal Medicine in 2009.
Dr Gardener has a long held interest in fetal therapy including in-utero surgery and is currently the only specialist in Australia and New Zealand performing fetal surgery for diaphragmatic hernia and spina bifida. In July 2016, Dr Gardener and a team of Mater specialists performed the first in-utero maternal fetal surgery in Australia on a baby with spina bifida at 24 weeks gestation. He regularly performs surgery for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, in-utero blood transfusions and other complex in-utero procedures.
With a particular interest in the prevention of stillbirth, Dr Gardener is involved in research and is a current board member for the International Stillbirth Alliance and leads a Fetal Therapy Special Interest Group through the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ).
Dr Gardener is actively involved in teaching obstetric ultrasound and passing on his skills to new doctors.

Professor Yeates’ research aims to better understand the outcomes of childhood brain injury and influences on recovery, and thereby foster more effective treatment and management. His current projects focus on concussion and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), in terms of both assessment and treatment. He is particularly interested in understanding the interplay of neurobiological and psychosocial factors in determining children’s outcomes after mild TBI, and how such factors can be modified through intervention to improve outcomes. He also has an interest in children’s social development after TBI, as well as other brain disorders. He directed a large multi-site study of social outcomes in children with TBI, and is working with several groups investigating social outcomes in childhood brain tumours, neurofibromatosis, and stroke.

Update on Genetics in Cerebral Palsy
While prematurity and hypoxic-ischemic injury are contributors to the pathogenesis of cerebral palsy (CP), as many as a third of children do not have these traditional risk factors. In other developmental disabilities genetics are recognised as fundamental. It is increasing recognised that cerebral palsy may be similar. Several recent studies have implicated copy number variants and mutations in single genes in children with CP. However current studies are limited by poor recognition of the possibility of a genetic contribution and relatively small patient numbers. There is emerging evidence for intersecting pathways controlling neurodevelopment and neuronal connectivity. As with other neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and intellectual disability CP genetics is likely to be highly complex. This talk will discuss the language of genetics and explore some of the early evidence for a genetic contribution before postulating what future studies might look like to enhance our understanding in this complex area.

Karen’s research focuses on the neurobiological signatures and treatment of subtle neurological dysfunction in mild traumatic brain injury and concussion, especially the behavioural and cognitive impairments that are found in post-concussion syndrome. Karen uses multimodal neurological assessments combining neuroimaging and neurophysiological investigations, including perfusion studies using MRI (ASL-fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation to help understand the changes in the brain in children who are slow to recovery following a concussion.
Karen is the director of the newly-established KidStim Lab at the Child Health Research Centre. This is the first non-invasive neuromodulation facility aimed at improving the health outcomes of children with brain injury in Australia and is led by a mulitdisciplinary team of clinicians and scientists from Brisbane.
Cost
Queensland Health staff
- $250 | 1 day
- $400 | 2 days
Non-Queensland Health staff
- $280 | 1 day
- $495 | 2 days
Students and families/carers
- $110 | 1 day
- $200 | 2 days
Delegates will require the program during registration to assist with stream selection on conference days.
Programme
Download the Rehab for Kids conference programme
Pre-conference workshops
- Practice update – Holistic classification in cerebral palsy
- Champion your child: How to be the voice your child needs in a complex system
- Spotlight on concussion rehabilitation
Other events of interest
- Did you know you can detect children at high risk of cerebral palsy in the first few months of life?
- Training workshop for the hand assessment for infants (HAI)
- Generation physio – Innovation in physiotherapy for our youngest generations
Further information
Public carparks
South Bank Parklands carpark is a 10-minute walk to the QCH.
South Bank has over 42 acres of parkland that follows the banks of the Brisbane River it is Brisbane’s cultural, food, events and recreational precinct.
Conference partners
- Queensland Cerebral Palsy Rehabilitation and Research Centre (QCPRRC)
- Australasian Cerebral Palsy Clinical Trials Network (AusCP-CTN)
- Queensland Early Detection and Intervention Network for children at risk of Cerebral Palsy (QEDIN-CP)
- Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AusACPDM)
Date
Pre-conference workshops
Wednesday 6 March 2019
Welcome reception
Thursday 7 March 2019 (view the details)
Conference
Thursday 7 and Friday 8 March 2019
Time
8:00am – 5:00pm
Arrive 7:30am (registration) for 8:00am start
Venue
Level 7
Queensland Children’s Hospital
501 Stanley Street
South Brisbane QLD 4101
Programme
Download the Rehab for Kids conference programme
Contact
Timothy McGowan
e: rehabconference@health.qld.gov.au
t: 07 3068 2950