![Dr. Simona Bar-Haim' s picture](/PublishingImages/Pages/news/simona-representation/Simona.png)
BGU's Dr. Simona Bar-Haim will be attending this year's Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad India from November 28-30, 2017. Bar-Haim was nominated by the US Embassy Tel-Aviv and approved by the White House.
“I am excited and honored to have been nominated and chosen and I look forward to a fascinating summit," Bar-Haim says.
Dr. Simona Bar-Haim was the Primary Investigator in two projects funded by the USAID Middle East Regional Cooperation Program, awarded by the US Embassy Tel-Aviv: The first, “Promotion of Physically Active Life Style in Populations of Teenagers with Cerebral Palsy (CP) in Middle East" ran from September 2010 – August 2014 with participants from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, and the US. The second, “Comparison of the Efficacy of Functional Motor Learning and Neuro-Developmental Treatments of Children with Cerebral Palsy in Natural Environments" ran from January 2006 - December 2008 also with participants from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and the US.
As such, Dr. Simona Bar Haim was recommended for the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES). This year's Summit will highlight the theme Women First, Prosperity for All, and will focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth globally. Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump will headline the United States delegation to the Summit.
GES is the preeminent annual entrepreneurship gathering that convenes emerging entrepreneurs, investors and supporters from around the world. GES 2017 will create an environment that empowers innovators, particularly women, to take their ideas to the next level. Through two and a half days of networking, mentoring, and workshops, GES empowers entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas, build partnerships, secure funding, innovate, and find their target customers -- creating new goods and services that will transform societies.
Bar-Haim is a senior lecturer in BGU's Faculty of Health Sciences and a physical therapist. She heads the Laboratory for Rehabilitation and Motor Control of Walking. She is also one of the founders of Step of Mind and its current scientific director. Dr. Bar-Haim originated the concept, developed Re-Step™ and conducted studies on applying chaotic perturbations to facilitate motor learning and improve walking following brain damage.
She has been the principal investigator for numerous multi-center studies, such as the USAID MERC Program projects, including studies currently underway in the Middle East.
Dr. Bar-Haim's mission is to develop and research new technologies to rehabilitate walking and improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities. As part of her activities, Bar-Haim empowers women in science and emphasizes the importance of rehabilitating women with disabilities in the Middle East.
“The field of rehabilitation today is at the beginning of a technological revolution similar to the one that the field of cardiology underwent in the 1970s," Bar Haim says.
GES participants will be truly global, with representation from every region of the world. There will be special emphasis on women entrepreneurs and the role they play in making communities more prosperous and secure through enterprise.
Relationships formed at past GES Summits have transcended industries and sectors and transformed ideas into enterprises. This year is the first time GES will be hosted in South Asia, and the event will highlight India's enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.