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SIDNEY RUBINSTEIN APPOINTED RESEARCH COMMITTEE VICE-CHAIR

Toronto, June 22, 2021. A leading researcher and epidemiologist from the Netherlands has been appointed as Vice-Chair of the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) Research Committee.

Dr Sidney Rubinstein DC, PhD was appointed to the Research Committee in February 2021. His appointment as Vice-Chair fills a vacancy that had been open since Dr Christine Goertz became Chair of the Research Committee in September 2020.

A graduate of Los Angeles College of Chiropractic (now Southern California University of Health Sciences), Sidney Rubinstein holds the position of associate professor at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam and is a registered epidemiologist in the Netherlands. His research focuses on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions for musculoskeletal disorders.

Dr Rubinstein's broader goals are to lessen the burden of neck and low-back pain by providing high-quality scientific evidence. The projects that he conducts and supervises are strongly embedded in clinical practice, such as the Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Discectomy (PTED) Trial, the WARRIOR Trial, and an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis on spinal manipulative therapy (SMT). He currently supervises a large international observational study in chiropractic care in the elderly (BACE-C cohort study).

Dr Rubinstein is perhaps best known for his systematic reviews, which are high quality studies that uses systematic and reproducible methods to identify, elect and critically appraise all relevant research on a carefully formulated question. These types of overviews represent the crucial link in the practice of evidence-based health care.

In addition to these studies, he is also on the Associate Editorial Board of the former Cochrane Back and Neck Review Group (now part of the Cochrane MSK Review Group). Dr Rubinstein is listed amongst the top 30 researchers in the world in the areas of neck and low-back pain according to Expertscape.com

Additionally, Dr Rubinstein supervises PhD, MSc and BSc students, and teaches methodology of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Dr Rubinstein works concurrently in clinical practice and is determined to make a change in how chiropractors are viewed in society.

The WFC Research Committee serves as a body of experts advising the Board of Directors on matters of science and research relevant to the practice of chiropractic. This may include quality, outcomes, methodology and clinical relevance. It is also a resource for research-related questions arising from the WFC Board and from the WFC’s national association members.

The WFC Research Committee is responsible for planning and coordinating the scientific track of the Biennial Congress.