Co-chairs

Prof. Dr. Elegast Monbaliu, PT

Co-chair of the Inaugural International Rehabilitation Summit, alongside Bart Van der Heyden, and Scientific Chair

Elegast Monbaliu is Associate Professor at KU Leuven, where he founded and leads the Neurorehabilitation Technology Lab within the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. He brings more than 25 years of clinical and research experience in childhood-onset disabilities. His work bridges rehabilitation sciences, clinical care and technology.

His research has been published in international peer-reviewed journals, including The Lancet Neurology. He has also contributed to international clinical guideline development and consensus initiatives. Within the European Academy of Childhood-onset Disability, he has held several governance roles, including Board Member since 2017 and Secretary from 2018 to 2024. He previously led the EACD Technology & Innovation Task Force and remains a member of the Task Force.

In 2024, he served as Meeting President of the 36th EACD Annual Meeting in Bruges, where he initiated and led EACD+, an impact programme connecting scientific exchange with participation, inclusion and lasting societal value. The initiative received the 2024 Incredible Impacts Award from ICCA and BestCities Global Alliance, recognising the wider societal impact and legacy of the meeting.

As Co-chair, alongside Bart Van der Heyden, and Scientific Chair of the International Rehabilitation Summit, Elegast Monbaliu works with the scientific committee and advisory committees and the wider rehabilitation community to shape a programme grounded in scientific rigour, transparency and practical relevance. The aim is to foster meaningful exchange between researchers, clinicians, industry, policymakers and people with lived experience of disability.

Bart Van der Heyden, PT

Co-Founder, International Rehabilitation Summit & Institute; Co-chair of the Inaugural International Rehabilitation Summit alongside Elegast Monbaliu; Scientific Co-chair

Bart Van der Heyden, PT, is a physiotherapist, international rehabilitation educator and innovator with more than 28 years of experience in complex rehabilitation, seating, mobility, postural management and pressure care.

His career has been defined by a simple conviction: rehabilitation works best when knowledge, experience and innovation come together around the person, not around professional boundaries.

Through his clinical work, international education and innovation in seating and postural management, Bart has worked with rehabilitation professionals, researchers, manufacturers and organisations across the world. He is the founder of SuperSeating and has dedicated much of his career to improving clinical reasoning and translating complex rehabilitation science into practical solutions that enhance function, comfort, health and participation.

Bart co-founded the International Rehabilitation Summit & Institute to create something he believes rehabilitation has been missing: a truly international platform where clinical practice, research, lived experience, technology, industry, education and policy can meet as equal partners.

His vision is bigger than a conference. It is to build a global rehabilitation community that shares knowledge openly, challenges established thinking, accelerates meaningful innovation and, ultimately, improves the lives of people living with disability.

“The future of rehabilitation will not be created by one profession, one discipline or one industry. It will be created by what happens when we bring the right people together.”