Congratulations to Dr Jia Fan for NRF/China Collaborative Award

Congratulations to Dr Jia Fan and collaborators who were awarded funding from the South Africa/China Joint Research Programme for his research project titled: “Potential benefits and neural correlates of adjunctive acupuncture therapy in unilateral stroke rehabilitation”. Dr Fan was the only successful applicant from the University of Cape Town.

People who suffer a stroke often have long hospitalization and lasting physical and cognitive impairments of varying severity. Stroke rehabilitation programs are highly effective and important to regain independence and quality of life. Acupuncture is a relatively new approach to stroke rehabilitation, though it has been widely used in East Asia and suggested as an adjunctive therapy by the World Health Organization (WHO). Previous studies have shown improvements in balance, decreased spasticity, and increased muscle strength in stroke patients, as well as greater blood flow velocity in the brain.

The aims of Dr Fan’s study are to examine the potential benefits of adjunctive acupuncture therapy during a standard stroke rehabilitation program for unilateral stroke patients, and the neural correlates of adjunctive acupuncture treatment.

This project is a collaborative effort between the University of Cape Town, University of Western Cape, and Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.