History
Professor Alain Rossier (died 2006), paraplegic and President of IRP, and Ulrich Schellenberg (died 2001), also paraplegic, are the co-founders of IRP – International Foundation for Research in Paraplegia.
Convinced of the need to boost research and to provide researchers with the necessary resources for funding their work, Ulrich Schellenberg initiated IFP in Zurich in 1991. Alain Rossier and Ulrich Schellenberg subsequently founded IRP in the French-speaking part of Switzerland in 1995. The two foundations operate a joint Scientific Committee.
Since January 1st, 2014, IRP operates as a single foundation throughout Switzerland.
IFP Foundation set up in Zurich with its first Scientific Committee
Funding of the first research projects by IFP
IRP Foundation set up in Geneva
Organisation of the first Bal du Printemps by IRP in Geneva
Organisation of the first Bal du Printemps by IRP in Geneva
Award of the first IRP/IFP Schellenberg Prize to Professor James W. Fawcett
Publication of the work «Un combat pour vaincre la paraplégie» (“A fight to conquer paraplegia”) for the 10th anniversary of IRP
Death of Professor Alain Rossier and of the F1 racing driver Clay Regazzoni, (paraplegic) founder
Founding and financing of the Dr Alain Rossier Chair at the University of Geneva
Funding of the 100th research project
Setting up of a Permanent Secretariat in Geneva
Founding and financing of the IRP Spinal Cord Repair Chair at the EPFL Lausanne
Award of the first post-doctoral fellowship
Organisation of the Soirée de l’Espoir in Lausanne to mark the 15th anniversary of IRP
IRP/ Regazzoni partnership for the Clay Regazzoni Memorial Room in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland
20th anniversary of the IFP Foundation in Zurich
Partnership with the Swiss Foundation for paraplegics (FSP), for the funding of clinical projects
15th edition of the Bal du Printemps
Merger of the IRP and IFP Foundations into IRP
20th anniversary of the IRP Foundation
1ère édition de l’IRP PARAbend à Zurich
Partenariat MXGP / Youthstream, championnats du monde de motocross
20e Bal du Printemps – Zénitude
Biography - Professor Alain Rossier
During his medical studies in 1956 he had a swimming pool accident that left him paraplegic. In his misfortune he decided to specialise in this field and to make his skills available to those similarly afflicted. He therefore studied and worked in the leading establishments for the treatment of paraplegia at Fontainebleau, Garches, then in the United States and Great Britain.
In 1964 he set up a specialist centre at the Beau-Séjour hospital in Geneva, and in 1973 left for Boston to head up a Centre offering state-of-the-art care in paraplegics. He was then named Professor at Harvard University and the Chair for paraplegia.
In 1985, he became Director of the Paraplegic Centre of the University Hospital of Balgrist in Zurich.
He retired to Geneva in 1992 and three years later with Ulrich Schellenberg, a former patient from Zurich, he set up the IRP Foundation.
Professor Alain Rossier has authored an impressive number of internationally-recognized scientific papers all of which are available to those interested on the PARADOC database at the Swiss Centre for Paraplegics at Nottwil (Lucerne).
His commitment to paraplegics took the form of untiring support for numerous medical and humanitarian associations, notably the International Medical Society of Paraplegia where he served as president. He was also at the International Red Cross, and presided over the Geneva Committee tasked with ensuring that construction and urban planning legislation took account of handicapped persons’ needs.
Since 1995, Professor Alain Rossier focused his intelligence, energy and extensive professional skills and experience to generate support for scientific and medical research on paraplegia via the IRP Foundation.
Professor Alain Rossier, co-founder and President of the International Foundation for Research in Paraplegia, died 2006, at the age of 76.
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