Dear OpenSim Community: We are submitting a proposal to continue support for the OpenSim project and are seeking letters of support from you, the OpenSim community, to strengthen our proposal. We have prepared a template to assist with writing these letters, and have attached it to this email. We hope to receive all letters of support by March 4. Our proposal is to renew the NIH National Center for Simulation in Rehabilitation Research <http://web.stanford.edu/group/opensim/index.html> (NCSRR) whose mission is to equip the rehabilitation research community with state-of-the-art simulation tools. Over the past five years, the NCSRR has developed and distributed OpenSim, provided training opportunities and seed grants, and helped form a network of biomechanical and clinical experts. With the renewal, we are seeking five years of additional funding for the NCSRR. The renewal will allow us to continue providing these resources to accelerate the integration of simulations into critical areas of rehabilitation, including stroke, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, osteoarthritis, prosthetics, orthotics, and sports medicine. With the renewal we will also adapt to meet the evolving needs of the community by focusing on (1) emerging research fields like wearable robotics, prosthetics, and predictive simulation, (2) expanding online resources including videos and e-books, (3) growing the OpenSim Fellows program, and (4) validation of models and simulations. It would be a great help to our proposal to have testimonial letters from you, stating how you currently use OpenSim and the other resources provided by the NCSRR. Letters that describe the specific ways that OpenSim and the NCSRR have benefitted your career or your research (e.g., assisting with publications and grants) will also strengthen our application. If your research has rehabilitation applications, please describe these as well. A diversity of letters from around the world will help our effort. Attached is a template you may find useful for writing the letter. It is also available to download here <http://web.stanford.edu/group/opensim/downloads/NCSRR_SupportLetterTemplate.doc> . We would be grateful if you could send a signed letter (preferably as a PDF file on your own letterhead) to opensim@stanford.edu by March 4. If you would like to provide a letter, but cannot meet this deadline, please let us know. Also, please let me know if you have any questions or ideas about the proposal. I'm happy to fill you in and we welcome your input. Thanks so much for your ongoing participation and support. Sincerely, Jen Hicks and the OpenSim Team -- *Jennifer Hicks, Ph.D.* Director of Data Science | Mobilize Center <http://mobilize.stanford.edu> Associate Director | NCSRR <http://www.stanford.edu/group/opensim/about/index.html> R&D Manager | OpenSim <http://opensim.stanford.edu/> Stanford University 650-498-4403 | jenhicks@stanford.edu