The President ISPO and the Chairs of the Local Organising, Scientific Programme will officially open the I.S.P.O. 20th World Congress. Welcome remarks will be immediately followed by the Knud Jansen and IC2A Inspirational Lectures.
Knud Jansen Lecture by Ritu Ghosh
Ritu Ghosh, Prosthetist and Orthotist, holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration in Health Care Services. She is the Academics and Technical Director of Mobility India (MI), Bengaluru. Ritu has over 28 years experience in the field of rehabilitation and assistive technology from ground to policy level. She has established national and international MI projects related to training and rehab services in over 20 countries. In 2005, she integrated wheelchair services into Mobility India's P&O services and community-based rehabilitation programmes. She introduced curriculum on wheelchairs into MI's ISPO-accredited P&O training programmes in 2006 and incorporated it into the Rehabilitation Council of India's national P&O curriculum in 2010. Ritu established the Bachelor’s (ISPO accredited) and Master’s degree P&O programmes at Mobility India and is currently advocating for the creation of India’s first PhD programme in P&O. She is also on the Academic Council of the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD). She has been on the Board of Studies for Allied Health Sciences in the State’s University of Health Sciences, and a P&O Expert Committee of the Rehabilitation Council of India for over two decades.
Ritu is a co-founder of the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals. Ritu has supported the piloting of the WHO Training in Assistive Products (TAP) learning resource in India in 2018 and is actively involved in its implementation in the region. She has spearheaded collaboration with leading research institutes in India and internationally on innovative assistive technology initiatives and advancing the field globally.
IC2A Inspirational Lecture by Christoffer Lindhe
Christoffer Lindhe is a triple amputee, a former Paralympian swimmer and the founder of his own prosthetic company Lindhe Xtend, based in his home country of Sweden.
At the age of 17, Christoffer lost both his legs as well as his left arm in a train accident. After experiencing this trauma, focusing on competitive swimming gave him something to work for and became so much more meaningful than athletics.
By engaging with the amputee community and becoming an advocate for them, he found a real purpose in life. After gaining a master’s degree in product development engineering, Christoffer decided to start his own company making user-friendly prosthetics, employing his own experience to drive change in everyday life for himself as well as for other amputees.
With his #4 ranked YouTube channel about life as an amputee, Christoffer provides tremendous inspiration to countless people as he shares his personal experiences with the global limb-loss community. Christoffer founded the AmpisLiv Association in Sweden, which recently merged with Momentum in Norway. Both organisations are members of the international umbrella organisation IC2A and strong supporters of those living with limb-loss. Last year Christoffer also became a member of the board at IC2A.
