News

University of Louisville researchers are finding ways to help those who suffer catastrophic spinal cord injuries battle other health problems related to their injury.

EAST CANYON RESERVOIR — Like any sailor, Derek Sundquist soaked in the sights, smells and sensations of sailing on a breezy, sunny summer morning.

But unlike most sailors, the 52-year-old’s exuberance had as much to do with the fact that he was in control as it did the joy of the sport.

Yes, Nick Buoniconti was a famous football player. He was a member of the Miami Dolphins’ “Perfect Season” and Super Bowl championship teams. He was known for playing middle linebacker with a passion, tracking down quarterbacks like a heat-seeking missile.

He was an integral part of the Dolphins’ glory years.

But as Buoniconti’s legacy is reassessed following his death on Tuesday, it’s pretty much unanimous that it’s what he did after he left the field — and a horrific family tragedy — that truly meant the most to so many South Floridians.

Researchers restore complete respiratory muscle function

VA doctors are among a team of researchers at the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation Center restoring respiratory muscle function to Veterans and individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Doctors Anthony DiMarco and Krzysztof Kowalski developed the first method in the world that can activate expiratory muscles (abdominal and lower rib cage muscles), using minimally invasive techniques to produce an effective cough.

Electrical stimulation has promised huge gains for people with paralysis. Now comes the hard part — getting beyond those first steps.

Rob Summers was flat on his back at a rehabilitation institute in Kentucky when he realized he could wiggle his big toe. Up, down, up, down. This was new — something he hadn’t been able to do since a hit-and-run driver left him paralysed from the chest down. When that happened four years earlier, doctors had told him that he would never move his lower body again. Now he was part of a pioneering experiment to test the power of electrical stimulation in people with spinal-cord injuries.

Google Nest provides up to 100,000 free Google Home Minis to the Reeve Foundation to foster freedom at home across the paralysis community through the #PowerOfVoice

SHORT HILLS, N.J., July 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — In celebration of the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, the leading nonprofit dedicated to improving quality of life for people living with paralysis, announced today a partnership with Google Nest to improve independence for the greater paralysis community through Google Nest products powered by the Google Assistant.

Novel approach also shows promise for autoimmune diseases

Paralyzing damage in spinal cord injury (SCI) is often caused by the zealous immune response to the injury. NIBIB-funded engineers have developed nanoparticles that lure immune cells away from the spinal cord, allowing regeneration that restored spinal cord function in mice.

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — Former boxing champion and Rhode Island native Gary “Tiger” Balletto opened the doors Tuesday to the state’s first adaptive gym designed for those struggling with paralysis.

University of Houston hosts the nation’s first Women’s World Wheelchair Rugby Invitational Clinic

As Karah Behrend grabbed the rims of her wheelchair and thrusted her arms forward, she hurtled down the rugby court—zigzagging as a blur of bright purple hair through more than two dozen other women on wheels.

Over 600 Veterans to participate in rehabilitation event co-sponsored by VA and PVA

WASHINGTON – More than 600 military Veterans from across the country, Puerto Rico and Great Britain are in Louisville, Kentucky this week to compete in the 39th National Veterans Wheelchair Games (Wheelchair Games) being held July 11-16.