U OF L GETS $8.5 MILLION GRANT FOR SPINAL CORD RESEARCH

LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- The University of Louisville has received an $8.5 million National Institutes of Health grant for research that could lead to restoration of movement and function for people who suffer spinal cord injuries.

The five-year grant from the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, a program administered by the NIH, will fund the Kentucky Spinal Injury Research Center. The center will bring together researchers from diverse medical disciplines to develop methods to repair or replace damaged spinal cord and central nervous system tissue.

Scott Whittemore, the Henry D. Garretson professor and vice chair for research in neurological surgery, is the program's director.

The center will launch five research projects, each headed by a separate U of L faculty member. The research areas will include:

• The chemical signaling pathways in central nervous system cells that appear to control when cells die due to lack of oxygen. Principal investigator will be Evelyne Gozal, assistant professor, pediatrics.
• The reconstruction, following spinal cord injury, of the central nervous system circuitry that controls locomotion. Principal investigator will be David S. K. Magnuson, associate professor, neurological surgery.
• The potential use of adult internal nasal cells called olfactory epithelium as a source of stem cells that can be transplanted to repair damaged central nervous system tissue. Principal investigator will be Fred J. Roisen, professor and chairman, anatomical science and neurobiology.
• The regeneration of functioning sensory pathways after spinal cord injury. Principal investigator will be Stephen M. Onifer, assistant professor, neurological surgery.

The center will begin recruiting a researcher in the areas of neuroimmunology, neuroprotection and/or cell death to serve as principal investigator for the fifth project.

David Canning of Murray State University also will participate in the effort. Canning's research includes assessing the function of central nervous system cells that inhibit nerve cell regeneration.

For more information, call Randi Hansen, (502) 852-7504 or Denise Fitzpatrick, (502) 852-6171.

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