Paralympic Scientific Award

Dr. Gudrun Doll-Tepper Paralympic Scientific Award 2009 Dr. Garry Wheeler Paralympic Scientific Award 2007 Paralympic Scientific Award 2005. Dr. Colin Higgs

Paralympic Scientific Award

The Paralympic Scientific Awards recognize one outstanding academic or scientific contributor to the field of sport for people with an impairment. To be eligible for this award, nominees must have contributed to scientific publications or must have received national or international recognition of their work and research. For a list of past award winners click here.

Paralympic Scientific Award 2011

Lucas van der Woude, Professor at the Centre of Movement Sciences at the University of Groningen’s Medical Centre in the Netherlands won the award for his work on the restoration of mobility during the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries. He has organized four different congresses in Amsterdam to bring together researchers in this field, and has produced a number of notable publications.

Van der Woude has worked on optimizing manual wheelchair propulsion, both in the general wheelchair population and amongst athletes.

Paralympic Scientific Award 2009

Throughout her international professional career Prof. Dr. Gudrun Doll-Tepper of Germany has offered distinction to scientific evidence for adapted physical activity and Paralympic Sport. She has a world-wide reputation as a spokesperson for equal rights, with emphasis on access and inclusion, whatever a person’s abilities, gender, religion or family background.

During her 12-year term of office as President of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE), which terminated at the end of 2008, Prof. Dr. Doll-Tepper placed strong emphasis on both the principles and the practices of equity and inclusion in all the organization’s activities. This was reflected in high profile events such as the World Summits on Physical Education in 1999 and 2005, which made the scientific case for the role of school physical education as an enabler of all children, for life long participation in physical activity.

The fact that in 2008 the IPC, ICSSPE, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) for the first time jointly organized an International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport, prior to the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games, is to a large extent due to her promotion of this joint initiative.

Using her outstanding experiences and her knowledge, Gudrun Doll-Tepper also chaired the IPC Scientific Committee for many years and moderated the IPC/INAS-FID working group in the recent past.

Paralympic Scientific Award 2007

Dr. Garry Wheeler is an exercise physiologist and registered psychologist and currently Vice President, Alberta Division and Edmonton Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. He is also a psychologist in the Adult Brain Injury Outpatient Department at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta.

Born in England, Dr. Wheeler began his career in the health and fitness industry as a physical education instructor at the King’s School in Gloucester, England. He moved to Canada in 1981 to begin a Master’s Degree in Physical Education at the University of Alberta, completing in 1984. In 1989, he completed his Doctoral degree in Physical Education in the area of exercise, training, hormonal responses to exercise and dietary behavior of individuals in exercise programmes. In 1993, Dr. Wheeler completed a second Masters Degree in Educational Psychology with a specialty in Counseling Psychology. In 1997, he was chartered as a psychologist in the Province of Alberta, specializing in counseling psychology, anger management and coping/adjustment to chronic illness and disease.

Dr. Wheeler has been instrumental in health promotion and elite sports activities for persons with a disability at home and abroad. He has worked extensively with the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and National Fitness Accreditation and Certification Association (FACA). He is an author of the Canadian Physical Activity Fitness and Lifestyle Appraisal systems for able bodied and persons with a disability.

He is also a former member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Sport Science and Education Committee during which period he worked extensively with international researchers and experts in the disability sport area.

Paralympic Scientific Award 2005

Dr. Colin Higgs is a pioneer and contemporary leader in the areas of adapted physical activity and Paralympic sport research. He has been studying and pursuing research related to Paralympic sport and Adapted Physical Activity for almost 40 years and has addressed such diverse topics as sport policy, coaching, international development, biomechanics and physical education among others.

For many years, Dr. Higgs has been invited as a keynote speaker throughout the world to both academic and practitioner related events. Most impressive is his ability to provide leadership in many different spheres.

In his profession as an academic and as a volunteer at the local, national and international levels, he has inspired numerous peers and students. Dr. Higgs is not satisfied to accept the status quo, instead, he continually searches to push the boundaries and pursue his curiosity.