UCLA gets $6 million to study ways to restore hand movement
Feb 10, 2014 20:14:37 GMT -8
Post by DJ on Feb 10, 2014 20:14:37 GMT -8
Great news for quadriplegics! 
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering has awarded UCLA researchers Dr. Daniel Lu (Brentwood) and Dr. Reggie Edgerton (Bel Air) a $6 million, five-year grant to explore new therapies for the approximately 273,000 Americans living with spinal-cord injuries. Some 12,000 Americans suffer such injuries each year.
The UCLA research will focus on restoring hand function to patients paralyzed from the neck down. Cervical spinal-cord injuries—those involving the neck—make up more than half of the cases in the U.S.
"Spinal-cord injury typically strikes people in the prime of their lives, with nearly half between ages 16 and 30," said Lu, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a clinician at the UCLA Spine Center. "Currently there are no effective treatments for spinal-cord injury, and the resulting paralysis has been viewed as permanent. We are exploring ways to change that."
The UCLA research will focus on restoring hand function to patients paralyzed from the neck down. Cervical spinal-cord injuries—those involving the neck—make up more than half of the cases in the U.S.
"Spinal-cord injury typically strikes people in the prime of their lives, with nearly half between ages 16 and 30," said Lu, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a clinician at the UCLA Spine Center. "Currently there are no effective treatments for spinal-cord injury, and the resulting paralysis has been viewed as permanent. We are exploring ways to change that."
Read more: UCLA gets $6 million to study new ways to restore hand movement after paralysis
