Christina (Tina) Ziebart
Assistant Professor
Tina Ziebart is an early career researcher in the field of spinal pain focused on better understanding how osteoporotic fractures contribute to spinal pain and patient function. To date, Tina has explored how number, severity and location of osteoporotic spine fractures contribute to spinal pain. Spinal fractures in an osteoporotic population can be very debilitating and lead to decline in physical function. Tina has also explored how number, severity and location of osteoporotic fractures contribute to function in this population. More recently, Tina has begun looking at large databases to determine the prevalence and incidence of secondary fractures after a spinal cord injury, and will begin to look at rehabilitation strategies to reduce fractures and to better manage pain post fracture.
To better manage spinal pain, there is a need to look at specific conditions, like osteoporosis, to better understand how to treat individuals and their unique needs, while also looking at the broader population by looking at data from registries and databases to determine how treatment strategies can be applied more broadly. This type of research is made possible through CANSpine at Victoria Hospital, through their comprehensive 360° assessments of physical measures and biomarkers, as well as the SPINA Spinal Rehabilitation Registry.
Recognizing the importance of collaborative research, Tina actively engages in interdisciplinary collaborations with experts from various fields related to spinal pain research. This collaboration has facilitated partnerships with treating clinicians, physical therapists, physicians, engineers, and other researchers to investigate the multifaceted aspects of spinal pain.
