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August 30, 2001

SHRS helping to establish similar school in India

Pitt's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) has been asked by the government of India to help establish a similar institution in the South Asian country.

Katherine D. Seelman, associate dean of SHRS, is leading the effort to set up the partnership. A former director of the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), Seelman is working with the Rehabilitation Council of India to establish SHRS as a model for the new health and rehabilitation sciences academic institution in India.

The new college, which will be located just outside of the capital city of New Delhi, will be a degree-granting institution.

"By conservative estimates, 80 million people in India have some form of disability," Seelman said. "Our impact could be enormous on a population of a developing country which can benefit from such a program."

Under Seelman's leadership, SHRS also is pursuing a number of possible funding sources to establish an International Institute for Rehabilitation Sciences.

In addition to building capacity to meet the needs of India and other countries, an international institute would launch telerehabilitation and distance learning initiatives to address underserved populations in western Pennsylvania.

Activities may include exchanging students and teachers; promoting domestic and international private sector innovation, commercialization and partnerships; establishing an international rehabilitation database for educational and technical resources; hosting international, web-supported conferences; holding problem-based technology transfer conferences, and developing distance education curricula.

Filed under: Feature,Volume 34 Issue 1

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