Excellent discussion on electrical stimulation research in spinal cord injuries

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is both receiving praise and criticism for its handling of research related to the exciting new field of electric stimulation of the lower spine. These new techniques promise to give paralysed patients the…

Does the timing of surgery to treat traumatic spinal cord injury affect outcomes?

An multinational team of researchers performed a systematic review of the literature on spinal decompression surgery following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Although debate continues over the effects of the timing of surgery, the authors found that “early” compared to…

Deep-brain stimulation may help restore function after SCI

A study published this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine showed that in rats whose spinal cords were partially severed, the implantation of a pacemaker in the brain’s mesencephalic locomotor region – a control center for the initiation of…

Student earns research excellence award for work on poor gastrointestinal function following spinal cord injury

Penn State College of Medicine graduate student Emily Swartz has won the 2013 Michael Goldberger Research Excellence Award, presented by the National Neurotrauma Society. Swartz’s research is on gastrointestinal function following spinal cord injury. Her research suggests that the loss of normal…

StemCells Inc gets go ahead to open US sites for its Phase I/II clinical trial for chronic spinal cord injury

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved StemCell Inc’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for clinical testing of the Company’s proprietary HuCNS-SC® human neural stem cells as a treatment for spinal cord injury. As a first action under this IND,…

Neural stem cells pulled from rat's brain using magnet

It’s like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Researchers have reached inside the brain of a rat and pulled out neural stem cells – without harming the animal. Since the technique uses nanoparticles already approved for use in humans,…

Geron stem cell work for SCI takes a step closer to revival

After more than a year of not-so-secret negotiations, Geron has finally auctioned off its long-stalled embryonic stem cell pipeline, handing it over to BioTime, a newly created subsidiary, in exchange for shares. BioTime has recruited ex-Geron CEO Thomas Okarma to…