Spinal Cord Injury News and Research

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A spinal cord injury usually begins with a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that fractures or dislocates vertebrae. The damage begins at the moment of injury when displaced bone fragments, disc material, or ligaments bruise or tear into spinal cord tissue. Most injuries to the spinal cord don't completely sever it. Instead, an injury is more likely to cause fractures and compression of the vertebrae, which then crush and destroy the axons, extensions of nerve cells that carry signals up and down the spinal cord between the brain and the rest of the body. An injury to the spinal cord can damage a few, many, or almost all of these axons. Some injuries will allow almost complete recovery. Others will result in complete paralysis.

Injectable scaffolding materials facilitate rapid healing after spinal cord injuries

Spinal cord injuries can be life-changing and alter many important neurological functions. Unfortunately, clinicians have relatively few tools to help patients regain lost functions.

9 Mar 2021

Researchers reprogram glial cells into new neurons to heal spinal cord injury

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have successfully reprogrammed a glial cell type in the central nervous system into new neurons to promote recovery after spinal cord injury--revealing an untapped potential to leverage the cell for regenerative medicine.

8 Mar 2021

Researchers create new nerve cells, spur recovery after spinal cord injury

Using genetic engineering, researchers at UT Southwestern and Indiana University have reprogrammed scar-forming cells in mouse spinal cords to create new nerve cells, spurring recovery after spinal cord injury.

8 Mar 2021

New platform can help treat neurodegenerative diseases through regenerative medicine

Imagine if surgeons could transplant healthy neurons into patients living with neurodegenerative diseases or brain and spinal cord injuries.

24 Feb 2021

Kessler team receives funding to study factors leading to osteoarthritis after knee injury

Gerard Malanga, MD, and Nathan Hogaboom, PhD, of Kessler Foundation received a $185,707 award from The Geneva Foundation (Geneva) to study factors contributing to the development of osteoarthritis following acute knee injuries, a common disabling condition among active-duty military personnel.

22 Feb 2021

Understanding the dynamics of brain blood flow could hold key for treating neurologic conditions

While the human brain has over 400 miles of total vasculature, little is known about the tiny capillaries that make up much of this intricate labyrinth of blood vessels critical for delivering oxygenated blood and nutrients to billions of brain cells.

19 Feb 2021

Biomedical engineer receives NASA grant to find ways to keep astronauts' bones strong in space

Extended time in space weakens astronauts' bones, so scientists are working to better understand how bone senses and responds to the usual forces placed upon it with the goal of keeping their bones strong.

18 Feb 2021

Study offers a new way to treat children with bow hunter syndrome

Fusing the neck's top two vertebrae can prevent repeat strokes in children with bow hunter syndrome, a rare condition that affects a handful of U.S. pediatric patients each year, UT Southwestern researchers suggest in a recent study.

11 Feb 2021

Kessler Foundation scientists receive three grants for spinal cord injury research

Kessler Foundation scientists received three spinal cord injury research grants from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, to ensure that they have the capacity to complete projects delayed by the pandemic.

5 Feb 2021

New treatment can improve the lives of patients with spinal cord injury

An international team of scientists headed by Grégoire Courtine at EPFL and CHUV and Aaron Phillips at the University of Calgary has developed a treatment that can dramatically improve the lives of patients with a spinal cord injury.

28 Jan 2021

New therapeutic approach enables functional recovery after spinal cord injury in mice

Using gene therapy, a research team has succeeded for the first time in getting mice to walk again after a complete cross-sectional injury. The nerve cells produced the curative protein themselves.

16 Jan 2021

Researchers to study potential treatment for limb dysfunction in patients with chronic spinal cord injury

Ghaith Androwis, PhD, and Steven Kirshblum, MD, received a grant from BrainQ Technologies to study a potential treatment for arm and hand dysfunction in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury.

15 Jan 2021

Stimulation method helps some people with spinal cord injury to regain hand and arm mobility

Almost 18,000 Americans experience traumatic spinal cord injuries every year. Many of these people are unable to use their hands and arms and can't do everyday tasks such as eating, grooming or drinking water without help.

12 Jan 2021

Study examines neural mechanisms of specific cognitive tasks of individuals with spinal cord injury

A team of rehabilitation researchers has studied processing speed deficits in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), comparing their brain activation patterns with those of healthy age-matched controls, and older healthy individuals.

4 Jan 2021

First patient enrolled in Phase II clinical trial of stem cell therapy for traumatic injuries

The first patient has enrolled in a Phase II clinical trial evaluating a stem cell therapy for the potential early treatment of traumatic injuries and their subsequent complications at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

21 Dec 2020

Study reveals innovative gene therapy approach to regenerate functional new neurons

Spinal cord injury (SCI) often causes disability and seriously compromises quality of life. While decades of research have made significant progress in axonal regeneration after SCI, most of the interventions have not been translated into clinical therapies.

18 Dec 2020

FEFU scientists suggest reconsidering existing treatment protocol for severe spinal cord trauma

Scientists from Far Eastern Federal University together with leading international experts suggest reconsidering the existing treatment protocol for severe spasticity, one of the main complications after spinal cord injury with partial spinal cord disruption.

10 Dec 2020

Kessler Foundation receives COVID-19 crisis funding to support spinal cord injury community

Kessler Foundation received a $10,000 grant from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation's crisis funding to support the spinal cord injury (SCI) community and critical research amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

7 Dec 2020

Studies examine rates of blindness and vision impairment worldwide

Sobering new statistics released by the Global Burden of Disease study found no significant reduction in the number of people with treatable sight loss worldwide since 2010 as public health services failed to meet World Health Organization (WHO) targets.

2 Dec 2020

New drug lures stem cells to damaged tissue, improves treatment efficacy

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have created a drug that can lure stem cells to damaged tissue and improve treatment efficacy--a scientific first and major advance for the field of regenerative medicine.

25 Nov 2020