Development of Practical and Rapid Field-Based Therapies for SCI

Abstract : There is a great unmet medical need to develop effective neuroprotective or regenerative therapies for spinal cord injury. Advances in military medicine establish potential opportunities for tailoring interventions for spinal cord injury to the battlefield, where the possibility exist for very early administration of therapeutic substances, followed by more extensive and specialized treatment rendered at a secondary care facility to which SCI victims might be transferred 12-72 hours following an injury. Our proposal is examining whether implantation of allogenic bone marrow stromal cell grafts (BMSCs) into spinal cord lesion site will improve behavior and anatomical outcomes after spinal cord contusion. The BMSCs are genetically engineered to secrete growth factors that we hypothesize will reduce cell lose at the injury site and recruit neuroprotective Schwann cells to lesion site to reduce secondary cell loss cavitation. Positive results of this research could lead to clinical trials.