Whether standing, walking, shaking hands, or grasping, people perform countless movements each day without thinking.
But if the spinal cord - the superhighway connecting the brain to the rest of the body - is damaged, a person could face a devastating loss of everyday movements and functions, or become paralyzed.
At this point in time, there is not an effective recovery promoting treatment to repair a spinal cord. Part of this is because the central nervous system - the brain and spinal cord - cannot regrow after they've been damaged.
Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine researcher Karim Fouad is trying to change that and spends his days looking for a combination of treatments to bring about recovery of movement after spinal cord injury.
He is the recent recipient of two five-year Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) operating grants and one three-year International Spinal Research Trust grant totalling over $2.1 million, an impressive feat given how competitive the research funding landscape is these days.
Fouad is passionate about his work and finding a way to better treat spinal cord injuries.
"Spinal cord injuries are one of medicine's big mysteries," says Fouad. "Nerves in the spinal cord that are cut or damaged can't regrow. Just like an earthworm cut in half, the part without the head/cell body degenerates. But we are looking at ways to help those nerves grow through electrical stimulation and pharmacological treatments, reroute and connect them to different neurons, and improve recovery through plasticity and rehabilitative training."
Fouad's three studies are focused on promoting functional recovery after spinal cord injury: Roles of cAMP and training in the recovery of reaching after spinal cord injury; Recovery of locomotion mediated by interneuron regeneration following complete spinal cord injury; and Activating neuron-intrinsic programs in sensory and corticospinal neurons for axonal regeneration.
To learn more about Karim, his team and their research, visit the Fouad Lab website.
About the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine
As the only free standing faculty of rehabilitation in Canada, the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine balances its activities among learning, discovery and citizenship (including clinical practice). A research leader in musculoskeletal health, spinal cord injuries and common spinal disorders (back pain), the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine aims to improve the quality of life of citizens in our community. The three departments, Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT) and Speech Pathology and Audiology (SPA) offer professional entry programs. The Faculty offers thesis-based MSc and PhD programs in Rehabilitation Science, attracting students from a variety of disciplines including OT, PT, SLP, psychology, physical education, medicine and engineering.