Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

Rehabilitation is a relatively new medical specialty, becoming certified as such in 1947.[6] Immediately following World War II, which had a significant impact on the specialty of rehabilitation, President Truman appointed five-star General Omar Bradley to head the Veterans Administration (VA). General Bradley recruited Dr. Paul Magnuson,[7] a U.S. Army orthopaedic surgeon, who created the infrastructure for the VA to provide rehabilitation for Veterans. Dr. Magnuson served the Truman administration until 1951 and, shortly thereafter, declared his vision to establish a medical rehabilitation hospital for American citizens.

Dr. Magnuson endeavored to start a first-ever hospital for citizens who suffered injuries to their bodies and brains. With very modest philanthropic means, Dr. Magnuson purchased a vacant printing building at 401 E. Ohio Street in Chicago, Ill., and a new organization was formally incorporated as the not-for-profit Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). By the spring of 1953, the building was converted into a small rehabilitation hospital and began serving a limited number of outpatients.

In 1958, the building was renovated, enabling the hospital to serve inpatients. In 1967, RIC formed an academic affiliation with Northwestern University, establishing a residency program in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), and soon thereafter appointed its first Chief Scientist. In 1974, RIC moved into a new location at 345 E. Superior Street in Chicago, Ill., and became the first free-standing rehabilitation hospital in the nation.

In December 2009, RIC announced that it had purchased the site of the former Chicago CBS building site (355 E. Erie Street) on which to build a new hospital, expanding its capabilities and capacity. Groundbreaking took place on July 1, 2013.[8]

In 2016, Pat and Shirley Ryan gave a transformative gift to the new research hospital, which would be called Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a change that would align with a new name and re-branding of the organization. Pathways.org, the organization founded by the Ryans 30 years prior, became part of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in 2017.[9]

On March 25, 2017, RIC officially became known as the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, as it opened its new research hospital.

One of the most significant challenges in healthcare is that scientific breakthroughs do not make their way to patients fast enough, if at all. The majority of science is conducted in laboratories that are physically separated from the clinical setting, often in different buildings. As a result, research in those healthcare or educational settings is not aligned with patients' needs. It takes an estimated average of 17 years for only 14% of new scientific discoveries to enter day-to-day clinical practice.[10]

The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is designed around patients, not only for their care, but also for the advancement of recovery (i.e., ability). Reducing the amount of time it takes to go from scientific discovery to practical application was a primary driver behind developing this novel model for translational medicine. All Shirley Ryan AbilityLab research focuses on discovery that will directly benefit one or more of its patient populations – a structure that reverses the traditional university research model, in which researchers can pursue a personal scientific interest without central focus.

In 2012, the organization began a living experiment by outfitting its existing facility with an ability lab, an applied-research and therapeutic space, on one floor. The prototype space allowed researchers to work shoulder-to-shoulder with patients, doctors and therapists. For five years, the pilot ability lab served as a key validation tool that shaped the vision and design for the new facility. Central to applying research during care are working translational ability labs in which interdisciplinary teams develop new research and insights to help patients gain more function (ability) and achieve better outcomes:

• Think + Speak Lab
• Legs + Walking Lab
• Arms + Hands Lab
• Strength + Endurance Lab
• Pediatric Lab

The hospital is also home to a number of other ground breaking research groups.

The Center for Bionic Medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is the largest bionic research group in the world. Discoveries and innovations include:

• The first thought-controlled bionic arm[11] and leg[12]
• The first manual wheelchair[13] to offer users mobility in either a seated or standing position
• Pattern recognition-based myoelectric control of partial-hand prostheses
• Lightweight powered lower-limb prostheses
• Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), a surgical technique that “rewires” amputated nerves and allows intuitive control and sensation of bionic arms and legs

A biomedical laboratory and equipment on the twenty-sixth floor of the hospital, comprising 10,280 square feet, enable the study of living human cells. These high-tech facilities are essential for solving patient conditions affecting the brain, spinal cord, nerves, muscles and connective tissues.

This lab is one of the few clinical labs to develop and execute both industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated research in prosthetics, orthotics, rehabilitation robotics, as well as other assistive and adaptive technologies. Scientists have worked with more than two dozen industrial wearable robotics collaborators, including Ottobock, Honda, Össur, Ekso Bionics, ReWalk Robotics, Parker Hannifin, Hocoma, B-Temia Inc and Samsung to create pathways and practice guidelines for the use of technologies for individuals with various conditions, including stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. The lab also has dozens of research collaborations with top academic and research institutions, including Walter Reed Medical Research Center, Brooke Army Medical Center Research (BAMC–Research), Northwestern University, Stanford University, Harvard University, Vanderbilt University, University of California–Irvine, University of California–Davis, LA–EPFL and ETCH in Switzerland, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and University of Twente in the Netherlands, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore and Imperial College London.

This lab also conducts outcomes-based research using advanced wearable sensors[14] in addition to traditional performance-based and patient-reported measures. This lab is one of the first to deploy sensors in an inpatient, outpatient and home rehabilitation setting for various patient populations (e.g., stroke, spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, amputations). It is one of the first to create customized personal models of algorithms for multimodal sensors that monitor patients in the hospital and at home.

The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago before it) has been designated the No. 1 Rehabilitation Hospital in America by U.S. News & World Report every year since 1991.[3]

Recognized in 2015 for the third consecutive time by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognition Program for leadership and exceptional nursing care – a distinction achieved by only 3% of all U.S. hospitals. Only 7% of all U.S. hospitals have any Magnet designations.

2019

• Merit Award, Professional Design Awards, American Society of Landscape Architects, Illinois Chapter
• Winner, Interior Architecture Award, American Institute of Architects[16]

2018

• Winner, Healthcare Category, Contract magazine Interiors Awards[17]
• Business Impact of the Year Award, Magnificent Mile Association[18]
• Winner, Best Healthcare Project, IIDA Illinois RED Awards[19]
• Winner, Best Healthcare Project, IIDA Great Plains Chapter
• Winner, Best of Show, IIDA Great Plains Chapter
• Winner, New Construction over $55M, Chicago Building Congress Merit Awards[20]
• Winner, American Architecture Award[21]
• Award of Merit, Healthcare Design Showcase Awards, Healthcare Design magazine[22]
• Popular Choice Winner, Architecture + Technology category, Architizer A+ Awards[23]
• Honorable Mention, Health category, Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards (website) [24]
• Honorable Mention, Health category, Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards (building design) [24]
• Citation Award, Civic/Institutional category, AIA|LA Design Awards [25]
• Winner, Public Sector category, World Interiors News (WIN) Awards [26]
• Winner Inside/Health category, World Architecture Festival Awards [27]
• Winner, Best New Medical Office Buildings and Other Outpatient Facilities (Less than 25,000 square feet) category, HREI Insights Awards, Healthcare Real Estate Insights magazine (Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Outpatient and DayRehab Center - Burr Ridge) [28]

2017

• Gold Award, Modern Healthcare Design Awards[29]
• Winner, Chicago Innovation Awards[30]
• Winner, Academic/Teaching Hospitals Category, International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Awards for Healthcare Design [31]
• Honor Award, Design Excellence Awards for Interior Architecture, American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago
• Award of Merit, Health Care Category, Engineering News-Record Best of Regional Awards [32]
• Winner, Acute Care Category, Healthcare Environments Award sponsored by Contract magazine and the Center for Health Design[33]
• Merit Award, Architecture Category, AIA Nebraska[34]
• Winner, Health & Wellness Category, Interior Design Best of Year Awards[35]

In addition to expert clinical services, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab provides advisory and staff training services to healthcare organizations across the world that are seeking improved operating performance, clinical staff development or facility design support.

The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Academy is its not-for-profit educational arm for healthcare practitioners. The Academy is dedicated to sharing the latest scientific discoveries and how these advances are changing clinical practice and improving patient outcomes. Through these continuing education programs, AbilityLab has helped thousands of physicians, nurses and allied health therapists advance in their respective fields and deliver the highest quality care to their patients.

The Henry B. Betts LIFE Center is a multimedia education and advocacy center that provides opportunities for Learning, Innovation, Family and Empowerment (LIFE) for people living with functional impairment, their families/caregivers, health professionals, educators and the community. The LIFE Center is accessible to all, in person or online.

• Adaptive Sports & Fitness
• Caring for Kids
• Charity Care
• Military Sports & Veteran Services
• Vocational Rehabilitation
• Peer Mentoring
• Aphasia Groups and Classes
• Amputee Research Registry
• Clinical Research Registry
• Rehabilitation Outcomes Research Registry
• Community Health Needs Assessment