Our mission is to improve the lives of individuals living with traumatic injuries to the spinal cord or brain through collaborative innovation in research, rehabilitation and clinical care.

We are committed to developing better treatments for brain and spinal cord injuries. We value a multidisciplinary and interactive culture dedicated to our common goals:

To improve understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and endogenous repair of the central nervous system
To identify novel targets and promising clinical therapies for individuals with brain and spinal cord injuries
To develop and improve rehabilitation strategies to maximize recovery and quality of life
To improve personalized care through identification of biomarkers for differentiation and diagnosis of neurological disorders and their effective treatment
The CBSCR is not a patient care facility. We are primarily a pre-clinical research center that strives for novel discoveries that will improve the lives of people who suffer a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury.

CBSCR Research Teams are working together to improve our understanding of the biology of brain and spinal cord injury and to develop new and effective treatments to promote recovery and improve quality of life.

Through cutting-edge research, our faculty and staff are advancing the field of neurotrauma in three key areas:

Neuroprotection
Neuroregeneration and Plasticity
Neurorehabilitation

Our Team

At the Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair, our multidisciplinary team collaborates to translate discoveries into life-changing treatments.

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Stories

Chronic complications from spinal cord injury studied

Research shows spinal cord ability to replace myelin lost to injury

Current Projects

Acute Traumatic SCI Study

More than a quarter million Americans live with spinal cord injuries, which result in variable sensory and motor paralysis. Health care costs for these patients exceed $3 billion per year, in addition to significant physical, psychological and social costs.

The Department of Neurological Surgery at Ohio State University Wexner Medical is actively screening patients in a clinical trial for a new investigational treatment that is hypothesized to safely and effectively improve motor function following acute traumatic cervical spinal cord injury. The drug, a compound known as VX-210 (Vertex Pharmaceuticals), is applied directly on the injured spinal cord and could potentially block a molecule that plays a major role in preventing nerve regeneration.

Participants must be between 14 and 75 years of age and scheduled to undergo a spinal decompression/stabilization surgery within 72 hours of the initial injury. Subjects will be randomized into three groups: two will receive the compound at different doses and another will receive a placebo. At least four follow-up evaluations within 12 months will be undertaken for all participants.

Ohio State Wexner Medical Center is currently the only hospital in Ohio enrolling for this study.

For additional information and enrollment criteria for the VX-210 study at OSUWMC, contact Francis Farhadi at 614-366-4961 or visit clinicaltrials.gov.
NIH Sponsored Spinal Cord Injury Training Program

Our Leaders

Dana McTigue, PhD

Professor, Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair

Dana McTigue, PhD is a professor and vice chair of Research in the Department of Neuroscience and in the Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair. Her laboratory studies spinal cord injury and recovery of function, gliogenesis, adult progenitor cell function and remyelination of the CNS.

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Phillip Popovich, PhD

Director, Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair

Phillip Popovich, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Neuroscience. His laboratory is an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to studying the complexities of CNS injury, inflammation and tissue repair.

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Our Researchers

Michele Basso, PD, EdD

Associate Director, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

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Jonathan Godbout, PhD

Assistant Director for Basic Science, Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research; Professor, Neuroscience

Dr. Godbout is a Professor of Neuroscience at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. He is also appointed in the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research and Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair.

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