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.
Stories
Chronic complications from spinal cord injury studied
Chronic complications from spinal cord injury studied
Research shows spinal cord ability to replace myelin lost to injury
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
CBSCR faculty coordinate an annual Spinal Cord Injury Training Program (SCITP). This program was established in 2003 as a contract from the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Beginning in 2014, The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation became the sole sponsor for the SCITP. Each summer, selected participants from research laboratories around the world travel to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, where they receive hands-on and classroom training in best practices for spinal cord injury research. The program is highlighted by personal interactions and discussions with individuals with SCI. Click here for more information.
Our Location
695 Biomedical Research Tower
460 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: 614-688-8576
Fax: 614-688-5463