Our Mission
The International Rehabilitation Forum brings together people and institutions that have the passion and expertise to build relevant rehabilitation medicine practices in low-resource and isolated regions, aiming at maximizing the independence and leadership of all persons with physical limitations.
Our Priorities
We focus on four priorities to connect and cultivate a community of global leaders to catalyze the development of physical medicine and rehabilitation practices in low-resource countries and to stimulate worldwide actions for providing rehabilitation medicine to some of the world's most vulnerable patients.
What We Do
We work with local partners and a global community of volunteers to build physical medicine and rehabilitation medicine in low-income and isolated countries so even the world's most vulnerable people with physical limitations can fulfill their potential.
Meet the Team
We are Physicians. Nurses. Allied Health Professionals. Social Workers. Communication Specialists. Disability Advocates.
IRF family is global, diverse, and passionate with a range of skills and experience. We have big dreams for building a world where all lives are given a better chance to recover, rebuild, and lead their lives through access to rehabilitation services.
Miriam Chun, MSW
Executive Director
Miriam is a macro social worker with a background in program development and project management in a multicultural environment. Miriam believes that a leader is anyone who wants to work with others to make a positive change. She sees community strengths and participatory processes as integral parts to the art of social change. Miriam joined the IRF to foster creative and structured approaches to revitalize the organization’s impact on building universal access to rehabilitation medicine. She leads varied aspects of the IRF’s operations including volunteers, programs, outreach, and communications. Chun holds a B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Minnesota and MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. In her free time, Miriam keeps busy by cooking Korean food, reading, and exploring parks and local coffee shops.
Andrew Haig, MD
Founder, President
Dr. Haig is well known for his work in rehabilitation. Author of over 100 scientific publications, and recognized with awards including best doctor, best researcher, and best teacher in the field, Dr. Haig’s experience ranges from teaching corporate leadership to consulting for foreign governments, to leadership positions in numerous international consortiums.
Tom Haig
Director, Communications
Tom's spent seven years traveling the world as a professional stunt diver before settling into a career in sports marketing. A bicycling accident in 1996 left him a t-12 paraplegic, but it hasn't slowed him. He earned a B.A.in broadcast journalism from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication and has produced more than 50 short films on disability awareness and PM&R in low-resource environments.
Mary Elizabeth S. Nelson, DNP
Vice President
Dr. Nelson is a passionate advocate for team-based care and promoting rehabilitation services in low- and middle-income countries. She believes when everyone is aligned to the same ultimate goals that success is inevitable. With over 25 years of direct patient care experience in varied rehabilitation settings and a Doctorate in Nursing focused on systems of care and outcomes management, she brings a research mindset and problem-solving skills to the board. Dr. Nelson leads efforts to foster interdisciplinary global health capacity building; training programs; and research; focused on building the next generation of global rehabilitation professionals. She hopes to collaborate with an international network of rehabilitation stakeholders to promote rehabilitation as an essential health service and support sustainable program development through the IRF.
Beyond her work, she enjoys outdoor activities with her family and Dogs. Primarily tending to her vegetable garden, hiking, camping, exploring new cultures and environments internationally and SCUBA diving.
Yunna Sinskey, MD
Africa Fellowship, Director
Yunna Sinskey, MD is a physiatrist in the United States who specializes in adult and pediatric amputee care. She completed her medical training at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and PM&R residency at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital. As the Director of Global Outreach, Dr. Sinskey seeks to develop and expand the global network of physiatry and work to promote rehabilitation and health in resource-constrained settings globally. As she grew up in South Korea, she has a special passion for Asia. Dr. Sinskey will be starting her Amputee Fellowship at University of Washington in June of 2023. Her interests are amputee medicine, developing low-cost sustainable technology to solve common physiatric problems, and improving local and global access to healthcare through telemedicine. She enjoys teaching new tricks to her dog Daisy and loves to garden.
Helen Mach, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Director, Data Strategy and Evaluation
Dr. Mach has experience working with children and adults as a certified and licensed speech-language therapist in the U.S. She is currently serving as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Jamaica in a Speech Therapy Advisor role helping to expand clinical services, provide education, and support research efforts with children and adults. She is also Secretary of the Asia Pacific Society of Speech Language and Hearing (APSSLH). Finally, she holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor position at Michigan State University where she focuses her research efforts on third-party disability and support for caregivers of people with communication disabilities associated with Parkinson's disease as well as global rehabilitation efforts in low resourced countries. In her free time, Dr. Mach enjoys whole foods, plant-based cooking, yoga, traveling, and hiking.
Abena Tannor, MD
Director, Africa
Dr. Tannor is a Family Physician who is one of IRF’s first fellows and the first trained PM&R physician in Ghana. She has a passion for improving the quality of life in persons with reduced functioning and has a master’s degree in Rehabilitation from St. George’s University of London. Together with the IRF, Dr Tannor successfully led the establishment of a 2-year fellowship training programme in Sports, Exercise and Rehabilitation Medicine (a combination of PM&R and Sports Medicine) for Family Physicians under the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr Tannor has used her training and the experience she has gathered in other high-income countries including the USA and UK to build a rehabilitation service in Ghana using local resources and considering cultural differences. She currently works as a consultant for the WHO Rehabilitation Programme and advocates for more countries in Africa to also establish PM&R training programmes in collaboration with the IRF.
Virginia Wilson, MB BS DCH (RCP)
South Africa Advisor
With a passion for rehabilitation medicine, Dr. Wilson has played a pivotal leadership role as the immediate Past Chair of the South African Spinal Cord Association (SASCA) and as the Chair of the South African Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (SASPRM). She is actively involved in driving initiatives to establish rehabilitation medicine as a recognized specialty in South Africa. Dr. Wilson is dedicated to providing specialized care to patients with diverse conditions and continues to make significant contributions to the field in her country. Since her appointment at the Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital, and she's cared for inpatients (adult and pediatric) during their rehabilitation for spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury, burns, amputations, polytrauma, and post prolonged hospitalization. In her personal life, she recently became a grandmother and cherishes the time spent playing with her grandson.
IRF's World Rehabilitation Alliance Representatives
Dr. Mary Elizabeth Nelson
WRA Research Workstream
Dr. Benedict Okoe Quao
WRA Workforce Workstream
Dr. Leslie Wheatley Ajavon
WRA Primary Care Workstream