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![Sensory room overview](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2022-08/blog%20%282%29.png?itok=eRacoSE9)
Behind the Scenes: Sensory Room
Our sensory room offers a customizable experience for patients to explore and is geared toward all ability levels — from those who are minimally conscious to those with behavior regulation disorders. Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is the only rehabilitation hospital to offer this innovative space.
Watch as Alison and Kyra introduce this space and learn more about our Brain Injury program: https://bit.ly/3Or9UYd
Watch as Alison and Kyra introduce this space and learn more about our Brain Injury program: https://bit.ly/3Or9UYd
Blog
![Wheelchair user exercising with their friend](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2022-08/Untitled%20design%20%287%29.png?itok=yIuX2HwT)
How People With Disabilities Can Overcome Barriers to Physical Activity
Whether people are born with a disability or develop one due to an illness, injury or chronic condition, regular physical activity can help improve quality of life and reduce the risk for other health issues or complications.
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![Megalodon youth adaptive swim team](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2022-08/Untitled%20design%20%288%29.png?itok=IxuE0r42)
Youth Adaptive Swim Team Earns Outstanding Results at Junior Nationals
Six members of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab's recreational swim program — the Megalodons (named for the largest shark of all time, which lived at the time of dinosaurs) — recently won an outstanding 12 medals in Paralympic events at the Moved United Junior Nationals in Denver.
News
![Rob Heitz swimming in Lake Michigan](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2022-08/blog%20%283%29.png?itok=CUorrPud)
Recovered quadriplegic from Chicago prepares to swim in San Francisco Bay to raise awareness of paralysis. ‘Doesn’t surprise me a bit,’ says mom.
From the beach where he swims on Lake Michigan, Rob Heitz can point out the green facade of the rehabilitation hospital where he began his recovery journey after being paralyzed from the neck down 19 years ago.
News
![National Cancer Institute logo](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2022-09/nci-banner.jpg?itok=Aol9D-fk)
Dr. Ishan Roy Featured in National Cancer Institute’s Cancer.gov Article on Cachexia
In a recent article published on the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Cancer.gov website, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Ishan Roy, MD, PhD, attending physician, Cancer Rehabilitation Clinic, and research scientist, was featured prominently as an expert on cachexia — a cancer-related muscle-wasting syndrome.
News
![Dr. Ishan Roy](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2022-09/dr%20roy%20blog%20header.png?itok=DwcLWQcz)
Meet Dr. Ishan Roy — Physician-Scientist Researching Cachexia, a Cancer-Related Muscle Wasting
After officially joining Shirley Ryan AbilityLab as an attending physician-scientist in 2021, Ishan Roy, MD, PhD, practices clinically in the Cancer Rehabilitation Clinic and focuses his research on cachexia (pronounced ca-kex-ia).
Blog
![NBC News Logo](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2022-10/nbc-news-logo.jpg?itok=L2CV1Y9u)
In the News: NBC News Features Dr. Jenna Sarna on Psychological Care for Survivors of Gun Violence
A recent story on NBCNews.com highlighted how some unique organizations — including Shirley Ryan AbilityLab — provide psychological treatment, in addition to traditional physical therapy, to patients who survive gun violence. For instance, Jenna Sarna, Psy.D. manager, Psychology/Patient Family Counseling, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, described the psychological support services that she and her colleagues provide these patients.
News
![New Electrical Stimulator Made of Absorbable Material Offers Hope for Nerve Regeneration Therapy](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2021-05/advanced-functional-materials_0.jpg?itok=5TRX6Cxi)
New Electrical Stimulator Made of Absorbable Material Offers Hope for Nerve Regeneration Therapy
The prestigious journal Advanced Functional Materials recently highlighted a potential breakthrough from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and Northwestern University researchers in the use of electrical stimulation in therapy for injured peripheral nerves.
Blog
![Roberto Rodriguez](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2021-06/roberto-rodriguez-banner.jpg?itok=vAg22UTa)
In the News: NBC 5 Profiles Patient Following COVID Double Lung Transplant and 11-Month Hospitalization
On May 26, NBC 5 Chicago aired a report on Roberto Rodriguez from Waukegan, who was discharged from SRAlab's 19th Floor Nerve, Muscle & Bone Innovation Center.
News
![Davis Phinney Foundation](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2021-06/Davis%20Phinney%20Foundationheader.jpg?itok=CQ0H49I3)
Meet Ala Elyaman, DO, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s first Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Neurorehabilitation Fellow
For the first time in the history of the organization, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is offering a one-year fellowship in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Movement Disorders (PDMD) Neurorehabilitation, with lead support provided by the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s.
Blog
![Dr. Mitra Lavasani and Team Publish Research Investigating New Cell Therapy for Osteoarthritis](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2021-06/mitra-banner-2_0.jpg?itok=VHfzQrsE)
Dr. Mitra Lavasani and Team Publish Research Investigating New Cell Therapy for Osteoarthritis
The journal Aging and Disease recently published a paper by Shirley Ryan AbilityLab researchers investigating a new treatment of OA using systemically delivered cell therapy.
Blog
![Patient Care Technician Sonnita Fairfax](/sites/default/files/styles/search_result_160x90_/public/2021-06/sonnita-banner%5B1%5D_0.jpg?itok=USeBV1WL)
Patient Care Technician Sonnita Fairfax's Quick Thinking Saves a Child's Life
"I just jumped out of the car; I put my car in park, but I didn't take the key out or anything. I just jumped out"
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