Our joint project of Training Transplanted Spinal Neuronal Progenitor Cells (sNPCs) to Function After Chronic Spinal Cord Injury has received a grant of $244,000 from the MINNESOTA SPINAL CORD INJURY AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM. This money will help propel us forward as we continue to push our scar ablation, transplant and electrophysological training treatment into human trials.
|
Grants are now available through the MN state SCI/TBI research grant program. Eligible projects must be based in the state of MN and be focused on spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury. To see more information go to- http://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=2180
We have been fortunate to bring on Nic Soflet to our support team at U/MINN. Nic is a young man interested in bioengineering and neurosurgery. He is very skilled in the lab and has been on board with this project for some time now. Nic will be performing the electrophysiology on the test subjects and measuring their progress and response.
Molecular characterization of our analogs for scar ablation is complete. The Spinal Cord Society developed a number of molecules and identified one in particular which demonstrated its intended purpose: Octyl-amine. In our preliminary studies, this derivative appears to properly attenuate so that perfusion into the tissue is slowed down and the ablative effects are reduced. This modification to our existing scar ablation procedure will allow a more targeted approach while avoiding damage to the surrounding spared tissue. We have made sufficient quantities of this compound and are currently using them in our animal trial with OPC's.
We are excited to say that we are now recruiting for the E-STAND (Epidural STimulation After Neurologic Damage) trial at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC, Mpls., MN). You can now sign up or refer patients through the clinical trial website at www.estand.org where the pre-screen form is available. We also have a flyer estandflyer.pdf. The inclusion and exclusion criteria are available on the website.
We are still steadily preparing for scheduling screening appointments seamlessly, so please be patient after signing up. Please see the website for more information as it comes out on the blog. We are excited to get started! Please don’t hesitate to email us with questions, and we will get back to you as fast as possible. I just wanted to send out an update to everyone interested in the HCMC-VA-UMN clinical trial, which we have named E-STAND (Epidural STimulation After Neurologic Damage). We have been granted FDA approval to move forward and are hopefully just days away from final approval at our first site, Hennepin County Medical Center.
We are excited to get started and busy preparing. Once we have IRB approval, we will send out specific information about how to sign up for screening and how to refer patients. We will have an active presence on a new website, where the trial will be more clearly described. I know that everyone is anxiously awaiting the beginning of the trial, and I will send out specific inclusion/exclusion criteria with a flyer and more as soon as we receive final approval. More to come soon! _____________________ David Darrow, MD MPH Department of Neurosurgery University of Minnesota Click on the link above to see Dr. Parr's presentation at Working 2 Walk 2016 on our joint cure treatment program. You can also see other presentations; in particular the ones about Epidural Stimulation from Dr. Darrow at the U. of MN and Dr. Lee at the Mayo Clinic. These are some very exciting developments in our drive to a cure for SCI.
Drs. Eric Holmberg, PhD, Research Director of the Spinal Cord Society, and Shu-xin Zhang, MD, PhD, a contracted researcher with the Spinal Cord Society, will be spending time at Dr. Ann Parr's Stem Cell Institute lab this week to start work on their collaboration for a combination therapy to treat chronic spinal cord injury. Drs. Holmberg and Zhang will be demonstrating their technique to ablate the glial scar that develops at the site of injury using a photo-toxic chemical probe called rose-Bengal. Scar ablation provides a more permissive physical and biochemical environment for axon sprouting. Once the technique is optimized, human induced pluripotent stem cell (hIPSC) derived oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) derived by Dr. Parr's lab will be transplanted following scar ablation. The hypothesis is that the cells will survive and integrate into the injured spinal cord and provide functional recovery.
This collaborative work was recently funded with the Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Grant from the Minnesota legislature. Project Purpose: This project focuses on the critical need for new treatment paradigms for patients with chronic spinal cord injuries. One major barrier to regeneration after SCI is the formation of the glial scar. This project will use a novel method for neatly ablating glial scar tissue in chronic SCI which, in combination with other therapies, shows significant promise in improving locomotor outcomes in individuals with previously untreatable, chronic SCI. The research team has successfully removed existing glial scars in chronically contused rat spinal cords using a rose Bengal—based phototoxic approach. This represents the most promising novel therapeutic approach to scar ablation in the central nervous system for chronic SCI. With a focus on translation to the clinic, proposed methods are compatible with cGMP manufacturing processes to enable seamless clinical translation of the research. This innovative project could provide pre—clinical data for an application to the FDA for a Phase I clinical trial.
Under Minnesota’s new Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Grant Program, four grants are being awarded to research institutions in Minnesota. The grants support research into new and innovative treatments and rehabilitative efforts for functional improvement of people with spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. Approved research areas for the grant program include, but are not limited to, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, brain stimulus, and rehabilitative approaches and techniques.
“Spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries can happen in an instant and change a person’s life, and that of their family, forever,” said Larry Pogemiller, commissioner of the Office of Higher Education (OHE). “These four grants continue the State’s focus on advancing medical research and care.” As directed by the program’s statute, the Commissioner of the Office of Higher Education, in conjunction with the program’s advisory council, awarded 50 percent of the grant funds for research involving spinal cord injuries and 50 percent to research involving traumatic brain injury. Dr. Walter Low from the University of Minnesota’s Medical School chairs the twelve-member advisory council. Four grants of $125,000 were awarded to: Research Project Title: Epidural Stimulation for Spinal Cord Injury Principal Investigators: David Darrow, MD, MPH, Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD Institutional Affiliation: Hennepin County Medical Center/University of Minnesota see video- http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/01/28/twin-cities-doctors-receive-grant-to-study-promising-therapy-for-spinal-cord-injuries/ Research Project Title: Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells and Scar Ablation for the Treatment of Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Principal Investigator: Ann M. Parr, MD, PhD Institutional Affiliation: University of Minnesota/Spinal Cord Society Research Project Title: Neuroimaging and Neurovision Rehabilitation of Oculomotor Dysfunction in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Principal Investigator: Sarah Rockswold, MD Institutional Affiliation: Hennepin County Medical Center Research Project Title: Traumatic Brain Injury Classification and Outcome Assessment Principal Investigator: Chard Richardson, MD Institutional Affiliation: Hennepin County Medical Center The two Spinal Cord Injury research projects focus on improving standing in patients with paraplegia and movement outcomes for individuals with previously untreatable, chronic spinal cord injuries. The two Traumatic Brain Injury research projects focus on documenting the effectiveness of neurovision rehabilitation for patients with mild traumatic brain injuries and using eye-tracking and serum markers as objective classifiers and outcome measures for traumatic brain injuries. These research projects are funded through June 30, 2017. A Request for Proposals will be available in mid-April seeking new proposals for research programs to fund from July 2016 – |
RSS Feed