IUSM, Purdue Veterinary School Team Up For Clinical Trial Patients sustaining paralysis because of spinal cord injury might one day regain mobility as a result of a clinical trial conducted by the IU School of Medicine and the Purdue University School of Veterinary Science

The joint project has attracted the support of Mari Hulman George, chairman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Her gift of $2.7 million establishes a named chair in the IUSM Division of Neurosurgery and a professorship in the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine's Institute for Applied Neurology

Mrs. George's grant augments funding from the State of Indiana, which committed $1 million annually for two years to IUSM and Purdue to support application of research on spinal cord and head injuries.

"The IU-Purdue collaboration in spinal cord research is a unique and an important partnership," says Paul Nelson, MD, Betsey Barton Professor and chairman of the neurosurgery division at IUSM. "It creates a bridge between basic science research and patient care."

The Phase I trial, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is based on research developed at Purdue in which dogs suffering from paralysis from natural causes regained partial function. Human tests will be conducted at the IUSM Head and Spinal Cord Injury Center. Here's how it works: Researchers will determine if electrical fields applied to spinal cord injuries can promote improved functional recovery through the regeneration of spinal cord nerve fibers. The electrical fields are imposed over the injury from a new implantable device, the extraspinal oscillating field stimulator.

The trial is open to certain patients between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five who have suffered a complete motor spinal cord injury above the tenth vertebrae. Eligible patients must enter the trial within eighteen days of the time they are injured.

While some may debate whether dog really is man's best friend, one canine in particular might help sway the vote. Yukon, who once suffered a herniated disk and was paralyzed in the hindquarters, is the pooch Purdue scientists used in early testing of the implant. Six months later, he was wagging his tail and climbing stair steps.