Tag: Dr Jerry Silver

A systemically injectable peptide, which may make it possible to restore lost functions in spinal cord injury patients, is moving toward clinical trials in early 2020.

The treatment, which was developed by Jerry Silver, a professor of neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine and advisor for NervGen Pharma, is the culmination of decades of work, and in pre-clinical studies, it has shown robust results in animal models.

Injuries to the spinal cord can cause permanent paralysis and even lead to death, with little to no hope of regaining lost functions once the trauma has occurred.

Dr Jerry Silver and his team at Case Western Reserve University Medical School, USA, have been working to understand why nerves that are damaged through spinal injury don’t regenerate and to identify non-invasive, easy to administer strategies that can promote robust functional recovery.

Promising results provide hope for humans suffering from chronic paralysis

Millions of people worldwide are living with chronic spinal cord injuries, with 250,000 to 500,000 new cases each year—most from vehicle crashes or falls. The most severe spinal cord injuries completely paralyze their victims and more than half impair a person’s ability to breathe. Now, a breakthrough study published in Nature Communications has demonstrated, in animal models of chronic injury, that long-term, devastating effects of spinal cord trauma on breathing and limb function may be reversible.

The immune system of spinal cord injury patients can be controlled using a family of therapeutic stem cells, according to findings published in Scientific Reports.

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University studied the therapeutic stem cells, known as multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPC) in order to observe their qualities and effects on spinal cord injury patients’ immune systems.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — More than being able to bend their knees or wiggle their toes again, paralyzed people long to be able to use the bathroom normally. Regaining bladder control would end embarrassing accidents, awkward catheters, costly medical care and dangerous, sometimes deadly infections.

A Cleveland team’s research has moved that goal closer to reality.

In rats whose spinal cords were completely cut – the worst kind of paralysis injury – scientists from Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic were able to prod nerve fibers to gradually grow across gaps the width of a pencil and reconnect. The tendrils’ months-long journey was aided by scaffolding soaked in growth-boosting and scar-busting chemicals.

ROBUST FUNCTIONAL REGENERATION BEYOND THE GLIAL SCAR