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News CYBATHLON 2020: Medical Checks around the world to ensure safety and fair starting conditions

A competition in which people with physical disabilities compete against each other to complete everyday tasks using state-of-the-art technical assistance systems – this is CYBATHLON 2020. As part of our comprehensive commitment, we are making our services available to CYBATHLON 2020 as a medical partner in particular. The medical partnership comprises medical checks for pilots to ensure safety and fair starting conditions.

CYBATHLON 2020 will now be held in a global format on 13 and 14 November 2020 – wherever the teams live. Instead of starting directly next to each other, the pilots will start individually in their own countries, under the supervision of CYBATHLON officials. The competitions will be broadcast live on a new platform on cybathlon.com.

This new global format also challenges us as a medical partner. The Medical Team, led by neurologists Prof. Dvořák and Dr. Manjaly, is examining 57 pilots from 21 countries, domiciled in time zones around the world.

The medical checks

The pilots undergo the medical check before they can start competing in their discipline. The Schulthess Klinik medical team is responsible for the medical preparation for and implementation of these medical checks. It assesses each of the starting pilots, most of them in collaboration with a specialist on the ground via a remote examination. The teams come from over 20 countries spread across different time zones around the world. The specialists on site are carefully recruited in advance and briefed about the examination. Depending on the discipline, our medical team checks other aspects with the local specialists, including neurological tests in particular. The medical checks ensure the safety of the pilots and guarantee fair starting conditions.

Few medical checks take place in the Schulthess Klinik (left), most of them via remote examination (right).

The medical team

The medical team is led by the two neurologists Prof. Jiří Dvořák and Dr Zina-Mary Manjaly. They both have extensive experience in clinical work directly with patients as well as in scientific research activities. 

Thanks to Schulthess Klinik’s interdisciplinary approach, they frequently exchange ideas with other specialist departments at Schulthess Klinik. Surgical and conservative disciplines, as well as internal medicine and research, go hand in hand with neurology and can be consulted if required, including for the CYBATHLON medical checks.

Read more about Dr. med. Zina-Mary Manjaly
Dr. med. Zina-Mary Manjaly Spezialistin Neurologie

Dr. med. Zina-Mary Manjaly

Consultant Neurology

Dr Manjaly is a neurology specialist who completed her clinical training in England and Switzerland. She is a clinical scientist at ETH Zurich, specialising in fatigue, multiple sclerosis and brain imaging techniques (neuroimaging). Building on her Master’s degree in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) from the University of Oxford, she is also investigating the role of cognitive factors in neurological symptoms and therapeutic efficacy. She is clinical head of the Human Performance Lab (HPL) at Schulthess Klinic and member of the scientific advisory board.

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Read more about Prof. Dr. med. Jiří Dvořák
Prof. Jiri Dvorak

Prof. Dr. med. Jiří Dvořák

Consultant to the board / Neurology, Spine Unit

I was born 22 November 1948 in the Czech Republic. I commenced pre-clinic studies at the Charles University in Prague.  For political reasons, I left the Czech Republic in 1968 continuing my studies in Zurich. Having graduated in June 1974, I was awarded a medical degree in 1976 from the Medical Faculty in Zurich. In 1990, I was awarded the «Venia Legendi» of Zurich University for the original work on the subject of the «upper cervical spine» specialising in «Neurology, i.e. spine disorders».  In 1995 I became Professor at the University of Zurich.

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More information

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Neurology