SCI Model Systems Research Featured in Current Issue of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine

The current issue of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine is devoted to the results of the SCIRehab Study, a large National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research-funded collaborative effort of the SCI Model Systems. Led by Craig Hospital, the project involved more than 1,000 clinicians from the Shepherd Center, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Carolinas Rehabilitation, Mount Sinai Rehabilitation, and National Rehabilitation Hospital. The clinicians document details of the rehabilitation process for 1,376 people with SCI receiving initial inpatient rehabilitation. They also recorded specific interventions following each of more than 280,000 treatment sessions and a broad range of outcomes at discharge and 1 year postinjury. Ten articles describe the Practice-Based Evidence research methodology used and present the relationships found between the interventions of each discipline and later outcomes after controlling for patient and injury differences.

Northwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury System Features a New SCI Forum

The Northwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury System (NRSCIS) has a new SCI forum presentation, It Happened to Both of Us: Conversations with Couples. The presentation features a panel of couples who were together before injury and are still together, talking about their experiences and how they stay connected to maintain a healthy relationship. The video can be found on the NRSCIS Web site.

SCIMS Highlights a opportunity to Win a New Power Wheelchair

University of Michigan SCIMS highlights the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

TheChristopher and Dana Reeve Foundation is presenting an opportunity for you to win a new power wheelchair provided by Tilt-A-Rack.

Just write a short essay of 200 words or less or make a video of two minutes or less and explain how winning this wonderful wheelchair will improve your health and well-being and enable you to give back to your family, your community, or the larger world.

Submit your entry online by January 18, 2013 for a chance to win.

You can read the full contest rules.

Work of a Model System Researcher and UMPC Researchers Appeared on 60 Minutes

Dr. Michael Boninger, director of University of Pittsburgh Spinal Cord Injury Model System, along with colleagues Dr. Jennifer Collinger and Dr. Andrew Schwartz of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) published research in The Lancet that was the focus of a CBS “60 Minutes” report. In their year-long research on brain computer interface, a 53-year-old woman with quadriplegia learned to control a robotic arm through her own thoughts. Brain activity was recorded through surgically implanted electrodes, and a decoder allowed signals to move the robotic arm exhibiting 7-Dimensional control and showing significant function gains on the Action Research Arm Test. She also used the robotic arm, wrist and fingers to feed herself chocolate, her project goal. The 60 Minutes episode that features this story aired on CBS Dec. 30th at 7:00pm ET.