Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects (NSERC partnered)

Traumatic spinal cord injury is often described in terms of the primary injury, which results from a mechanical insult such as a motor vehicle or sports-related accident, and the secondary injury, which results in a cascade of events, resulting in an inhibitory environment. The latter limits regeneration by forming a scar-like tissue which can be degraded. The environment in the injured spinal cord is not conducive to cell growth; however, cell transplantation holds promise for regeneration. Here we propose to both degrade the scar-like tissue that forms after injury and deliver stem cells that will promote regeneration. Critical challenges in the development of stem cell based therapies, are the survival of transplanted cells and tissue integration within the host. By addressing both with novel bioengineering strategies in combination with advanced stem cell biology and animal models, we anticipate developing platform strategies that will impact spinal cord injury repair strategies and be broadly applicable to other traumatic or neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system, such as stroke and retinal degeneration. Our team has the collective expertise required for success. By bringing together world-leading experts in bioengineering, stem cell biology, cellular microenvironment and spinal cord injury models, we aim to overcome injury in one of the most challenging frontiers in medicine - the central nervous system. We will provide a superb training environment for our researchers, taking advantage of the multidisciplinary approach to overcome spinal cord injury. Our team is strengthened by our three industrial collaborators with expertise in commercialization of research, scar tissue degradation, and stem cell delivery. Together, we aim to advance knowledge towards commercial products in the fields of regenerative medicine and neuroscience - two focus areas identified by the Federal government for funding.