Naaz Desai-Kapadia, PhD student, MSc (Rehab), BSc (PT)
Research Associate-Physiotherapist
Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-UHN

Naaz Desai-Kapadia, PhD student, MSc (Rehab), BSc (PT)

Research Associate-Physiotherapist
Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-UHN

 

BIO

Naaz Kapadia Desai received her Bachelor of Physiotherapy from Karnataka University in India in 1999. Since completing her undergraduate degree she has worked both in clinical and academic capacities in both India and Canada. She completed her Master’s in Medical Rehabilitation with majors in Neuroscience from the University of Manitoba in 2008. She joined Toronto Rehabilitation Institute- UHN in August 2008 and since she has been working as a Research Associate- Physiotherapist primarily overseeing various single and multi site clinical research trials, writing grant proposals, preparing journal articles and conducting research based physiotherapy assessment and treatment sessions for research participants. She is currently a PhD student at the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto. Her research interests mainly include development of therapies to enhance independence and return of function in individuals with acquired neurological conditions. She has extensive knowledge in the use of FES systems for retraining various upper and lower extremity functions. She was one of the key members of the team that worked to develop stimulation protocols for retraining reaching and grasping; the ones that are now imbedded in the commercialized version of the stimulator MyndMove. She is one of the patent holders of these protocols. She has various peer reviewed publications in the said area of interest. She is a co contributor to the E-Scan atlas. She has served as an invited expert on the SCI High Committee.