The La Marató de TV3 Foundation recently awarded the grants from the 2016 edition to the 37 research projects chosen on the basis of their contributions to progress in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of strokes and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

The award-winning project is coordinated by Dr Gerard Urrútia, with Dr Rosa Cabanas as clinical coordinator. Both are lecturers in the Bachelor’s Degree in Physiotherapy. The main aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of core stability exercises on improving dynamic sitting balance, trunk control and functional rehabilitation for subacute stroke patients through a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Research was conducted over the course of three years, and participants include the Santa Pau Biomedical Research Institute, the Universitat Internacional de Catalonia, the Blanquerna School of Health Science, the Pere Virgili Social Healthcare Hospital, the Parc Taulí Health Corporation, the Terrassa Health Consortium, the Hospital de la Santa Cruz in Vic, the UAB Health and Ageing Foundation and the Biocruces Health Research Institute (Basque Country).