United Spinal Association presented $153,000 to a Yale research center for the development of effective treatments for spinal cord injuries and disorders.
Paul J. Tobin, president and CEO of United Spinal Association (www.unitedspinal.org), presented a donation of $153,000 to Yale University Medical School’s Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research on Wednesday, June 24, 2009. This donation will support groundbreaking research into therapies that will restore and preserve function in individuals with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D).
Led by a dedicated staff of approximately 50 researchers and scientists from around the world, the Yale Center has been on the forefront of cutting-edge research throughout its history and has numerous “firsts” in understanding the mechanisms behind SCI/D. These include the first demonstration that cell transplantation can enhance nerve impulse conduction in the injured spinal cord; the first demonstration of the molecular basis for remission in multiple sclerosis (MS); the first demonstration of the molecular basis for pain after SCI; and the first demonstration that bone marrow stem cells––introduced intravenously––can protect the injured brain and spinal cord.
“The Yale Center was, at least in part, the brainchild of United Spinal’s former Executive Director Jim Peters, who worked with the Center’s Director Dr. Stephen Waxman. They championed this through the bureaucracy and put this facility on the map––pulling together the political will to make it happen,” Tobin said. “United Spinal is honored to support Dr. Waxman and his talented team and we are hopeful that the extraordinary research being conducted here will continue to make an impact on the treatment, and ultimately the cure, of spinal cord injuries and disorders.”
Waxman (left in photo with Mr. Tobin), discussed how United Spinal’s support has an immense impact on new SCI/D research initiatives and opens the door to many more opportunities for funding. “Discretionary dollars allow us to move quickly. They let us test that new hypothesis that the National Institutes of Health and the VA are never going to consider. You do the initial experiments; sometimes it doesn’t work. Regardless of the outcome, you learn something, and if it does work, then you can apply for a grant and multiple those dollars twenty-fold. So each discretionary/private dollar is equivalent to twenty dollars with restrictions,” Waxman explains.
“We are incredibly proud of our partnership with United Spinal Association. It propels us financially and we really do share the same goals. We also get a gift of focus and mission because United Spinal not only gives dollars, but wants to know where those dollars a going,” Waxman added.
Located on the grounds of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in West Haven, Connecticut, the Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research was created as a collaborative effort of United Spinal Association, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Yale University School of Medicine, and the VA.
United Spinal has contributed over $8 million to the Center since its founding in 1986.
I recently had the opportunity to meet Dr. Waxman and tour the Center. Located on the outskirts of the West Haven VA, the humble red brick building that houses some of the most extraordinary SCI/D research taking place anywhere in the world, certainly didn’t look much different from the other buildings on the VA campus. Once you enter the front doors, however, you get a clearer sense of the important work that takes place there.
Displayed along the hallway walls, between lab rooms filled with millions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art research equipment, are white marker boards to promote the sharing of ideas among staff. On any given day, making your way down the corridors, including a new $3.8 million translational research wing completed in 2008, you can peek in on scientists preparing and studying tiny sections of injured tissues under electron microscopes; pharmacologists and stem cell biologists working on cellular repair of the spinal cord and brain using transplanted cells and stem cells; molecular biologists analyzing the function of molecules and investigating ways to repair demyelinated cells in disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS); protein biochemists studying how different molecules fit together; and spinal cord physiologists trained by the world-renowned neuroscientist Wise Young, MD, PhD. Other researchers hovering over computer monitors review data generated by sophisticated electronic instruments that measure sodium channels (special ‘gates’ within the membrane that separates nerve cells or neurons from the surrounding environment) that are directly involved in sensitivity to pain. In one lab room, nerve tissue cultures are prepared in a row of chambers under highly controlled circumstances.
Waxman, whose fervor for science is undeniable, speaks with such passion about research, that it’s difficult not to be captivated. As I was introduced to members of his staff I realized that this attitude is contagious––a reason the Center has gained a tremendous amount of support, not only from corporations and institutions, but individuals that are affected by SCI/D.
Dan Flaherty, a California resident whose 27 year-old daughter Bridget had passed away 5 years after she was spinal cord injured, chose to support the work at Yale after visiting the Center and having an extensive discussion with Dr. Waxman on his research initiatives and the importance of studying SCI/D at the molecular level .
“We’d saved to do something in memory of Bridget and to help progress toward restorative treatment for spinal cord injury. Dr. Waxman’s work was the most solid and promising I’d found so we decided to donate our money to Yale. I think in terms of purpose, helping people with spinal cord injury and related disorders walk again and do things they used to, our goals are very similar to those of United Spinal Association and other organizations,” Flaherty says.
Like many parents of children with SCI/D, Flaherty was desperately in search of ways to help his daughter. “As parent of a kid that was spinal cord injured, the first thing I thought was, ‘how can I fix this.’ It’s a devastating injury. As you start to research the medical literature and realize there is very little in the way of treatment the situation can feel hopeless. And that’s why research grounded in science, such as the work of Dr. Waxman and his staff is so important to finding a cure. It’s not if, but when. I believe it’s only a matter of time before they find a way to restore function in people with SCI/D. We endowed a professorship at Yale to support work on SCI/D permanently, and were honored that Dr. Waxman was Yale’s first Bridget Marie Flaherty Professor of Neurology, Neurobiology, and Pharmacology.”
For more information on the Yale University Medical School’s Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research, please visit www.med.yale.edu/neurol/pva-epvacenter/edu/research.html.
