Hello and welcome to The Mobility Brief, the monthly podcast from the Gray Centre for Mobility and Activity, part of St. Joseph's Health Care London. Today is Monday, March 9th, 2026. In this episode, we will cover three updates from the work happening here at the centre.

Let's begin with a look at global education. A question that comes up is, how do the world's different geriatrics training programs work together? A paper in European Geriatric Medicine by Román Romero-Ortuño and colleagues examined this. Dr. Manuel Montero-Odasso, from here at the Gray Centre, was one of the individuals who engaged with this research. The authors used a mapping exercise and expert consultation to identify and characterize major transnational initiatives in geriatrics education. They identified seventeen such initiatives, finding that these programs form a disjointed but potentially complementary global system. The conclusion suggests that greater alignment between these programs could enhance efficiency in developing the global geriatrics workforce.

Now, let's shift our focus to stroke recovery. This brings us to another question: Do all researchers measure leg recovery after a stroke in the same way? A paper in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, led by our own Dr. Robert Teasell, examined this issue. Dr. Teasell and his team, which included Jamie Fleet, Michael Payne, Ricardo Viana, and Sue Peters, conducted a systematic search for randomized controlled trials looking at lower extremity rehabilitation in adults post-stroke. They identified nearly 1,550 trials and discovered that 339 distinct outcome measures were used. The findings show that while the use of some of the most common measures aligns with clinical guidelines, there is considerable heterogeneity in how outcomes are assessed. This variation, the authors conclude, may make it difficult to compare the effects of different rehabilitation interventions.

And for our final update, we'll turn to interventional pain medicine and ask: Can a bony landmark on a spinal x-ray personalize a back pain procedure? In a paper published in the journal *Interventional Pain Medicine*, John Tran and his colleagues explored this. Dr. Eldon Loh, one of our own researchers, contributed to this work. The team created 3D models from sixty lumbar vertebrae and used custom software to simulate fluoroscopic, or x-ray, images of them. This allowed them to analyze how the 3D anatomy of the bone corresponds to its 2D appearance during a procedure. The analysis identified a potential visual marker on the simulated images that was associated with the anatomy of the vertebrae. This marker was present in a majority of cases that suited one type of procedural angle, and in a minority of cases that suited another.

And that brings us to the end of this month's updates. We covered the coordination of geriatrics education programs across the globe, the different ways researchers measure leg recovery after a stroke, and a method for personalizing a back pain procedure using a bony landmark.

What connects these updates is a focus on alignment. Whether it’s creating a more coherent system for global education, recognizing the variety in how recovery is measured, or using an anatomical feature to guide a specific action, each piece of work examines how things fit together.

Thank you for listening to The Mobility Brief.