GaitNet Osteoarthritis - Canada: Engaging researchers, clinicians and stakeholders to mobilize gait biomechanics research aimed at improving knee osteoarthritis management.

This project will bring together, for the first time, mobility researchers from across Canada with trainees, clinicians and consumers who are interested in advancing the care for the more than 25 million people worldwide with lower limb osteoarthritis (OA). Specifically, we have tremendous expertise and resources in mobility (gait biomechanics) research related to lower limb OA in Canada. Our collective research is recognized worldwide and we need to harness this knowledge by sharing, growing and strengthening our collaborations among researchers, and with consumers and clinicians who have a vested interest in joint health and maintaining mobility in OA. This meeting will enhance and facilitate opportunities for cooperation, by working together to figure out what the greatest concerns are related to mobility and physical function in OA, and to develop strategies to pool resources for large-scale solutions to these concerns. Over 1.5 days, these experts will share and discuss information about RESEARCH PRIORITIES, STUDY DESIGNS AND ANALYTIC APPROACHES and State-of-the-Art technologies. We will work toward developing recommendations for Multicenter Studies and how we can share common data. This common approach will allow new research that capitalizes on advanced tools at multiple sites across Canada to speed up development and broaden our biomechanical strategies for detecting, monitoring and treating knee OA. By the end of this meeting, we will have together identified important questions related to mobility, mobility measures needed in clinical care, and developed a stakeholder-informed strategy for moving forward with answering these important questions by sharing knowledge and pooling our resources.