The Registry is largely the vision of two people: Canada's Man In Motion, Rick Hansen, and Dr. Marcel Dvorak, spine surgeon and researcher at Vancouver General Hospital and the University of British Columbia.

Rick Hansen has been a tireless advocate for spinal cord injury research since his epic two year, 40,000 km Man In Motion World Tour. When the concept and the need for a Canadian spinal cord injury registry was explained to him by Dr. Dvorak, Rick began championing the idea and provided funding through the Rick Hansen Foundation.

In 2003, his efforts resulted in Health Canada making a significant investment to make the vision become reality. Meanwhile, Dr. Dvorak assumed the role of Medical Director of the Registry, a position he continues to hold to this day.

Today, the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry is based in Vancouver, but it is truly a pan-Canadian initiative, as it collects data at sites in every major Canadian city and shares that data with researchers across the country.

In other words, all major Canadian spinal cord injury trauma centres and rehabilitation centres are collecting this critical information and, in turn, making good use of the information for their own research and treatment purposes.