Olga Laporta-Hoyos, lecturer of the Master's Degree in Paediatric Physiotherapy, has obtained the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant to carry out the research project “Evaluation of Autism Spectrum Disorder in children with CP, EASED-CP”. 

As Laporta-Hoyos explains, “contact with people with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families in my clinical activity at the Associació Catalana d’Integració i Desenvolupament Humà (acidH - Catalan Association of Integration and Human Development) repeatedly led me to see children with cerebral palsy who had features of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This leads to a greater limitation in the daily functioning of these children. The reality of the situation prompted me to look for ways to improve the correct identification of these traits and to differentiate them from other symptoms of cerebral palsy.” Thus emerged the research project that Laporta-Hoyos will develop: the objective of proposing clinical guidelines and a standardised tool that will allow professionals to correctly identify the traits of ASD in people with cerebral palsy. “This process will build on the identified needs of people with cerebral palsy and their families, and aims to generate consensus among experts at an international level,” she says. 

Thanks to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant, the physiotherapy lecturer will be able to develop her research over the next three and a half years at the University of Barcelona and the University of California San Francisco. “Having this important grant is a wonderful opportunity to learn. I am very fortunate to have the freedom to lead a project I believe in. This is an important challenge that I am sure will allow me to develop and consolidate my clinical and research practice,” explains Olga Laporta-Hoyos.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowships are part of the European Union's research programme and are open to excellent researchers in every discipline from all over the world. They aim to equip research professionals with the necessary skills and international experience to develop a successful career, both in the public and private sectors, thereby strengthening the capacity for innovation and research in Europe. In addition, thanks to this aid programme, researchers can carry out their work in any European Union or associated country.