Spinal Cord Injury Lab at Shepherd Center

The Shepherd Center Spinal Cord Injury Lab, or SCIL, is led by Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Research Director, Keith Tansey, MD, PhD and Associate Director, Debbie Backus, PhD, PT. The focus of SCIL is to learn more about neural plasticity and functional recovery following SCI, as well as the rehabilitation for the impairments and functional deficits that result from SCI.

The Shepherd Center has a long tradition of carrying out SCI research as part of the SCI Model Systems focusing on improving care for SCI patients and participating in clinical trials of therapeutic interventions. SCIL adds to these efforts with more basic, preclinical human research aimed at understanding the neural mechanisms of functional recovery and how such mechanisms can be enhanced by new therapeutic approaches. The lab will combine electrophysiological methods that examine muscle activation patterns and reflex function with robotic technology that can impose various experimental conditions, measure mechanical features of movements, and train stepping or reaching and grasping movements. The lab will also examine changes in how the autonomic nervous system functions after SCI in response to different therapeutic interventions.

Drs. Tansey and Backus will work to combine new electrophysiological tools with devices already in clinical use or research at the Shepherd Center, including the Lokomat robotic body weight supported treadmill trainer and the AMES device, a novel tool for augmenting sensory feedback during upper extremity therapy. Drs. Tansey and Backus expect that a variety of clinicians at the Shepherd Center will also participate in research in SCIL and hope to mentor physical therapy, occupational therapy, medical students or residents, and post-doctoral fellows from partner institutions in Atlanta such as Emory University and Georgia Tech. SCIL will also serve as a site where basic science discoveries made at Emory, Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia and similar institutions can be tested in humans with SCI to more rapidly translate ideas from the research bench to bedside testing and application.

SCIL is currently recruiting for two SCI Research Fellows, to work in the clinic and the research laboratory at Shepherd Center. Applications can be made at www.shepherd.org. Please contact Dr. Backus for more details at Deborah_backus@shepherd.org.

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