Grant: Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) program

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes severe muscle paralysis, significantly affecting daily activities, work, and participation in hobbies and sports. Nerve transfer surgery, where a surgeon connects a healthy donor nerve to the injured nerve with the goal of restoring nerve supply to paralyzed muscles offers a promising treatment for SCI individuals. While this surgery is now performed worldwide and has the potential to transform lives, there is limited understanding of its mechanisms. This knowledge gap makes it challenging to explain why some patients experience substantial improvements and others do not. Consequently, this makes it difficult for doctors to counsel patients about the expected outcomes from the surgery. Additionally, poor understanding of factors that lead to the return of muscle strength makes it difficult to know how to deliver rehabilitation after surgery. Our research team will use advanced nerve and muscle testing devices alongside specialized software to investigate how nerve transfer surgery works and uncover the factors influencing recovery. This information will be critical to improving doctor and patient decision-making regarding surgery and will greatly improve the quality of rehabilitation after surgery.