The ICORDian Summer 2024

In this issue, meet ICORD’s new Director, hear from students working on two interesting research projects, find out about the 2024 seed2STEM program, wish SCIRE a happy 20th anniversary, and read about a high profile publication by the Granville Lab! Plus our regular features: what’s new at ICORD-O, and Partner News!

We hope you enjoy these feature stories:

And these regular columns:

Meet our new Director

Dr. Brian Kwon became ICORD’s Director on July 1.

A distinguished leader in the field of SCI and spine trauma, Dr. Kwon is recognized globally for his ground breaking research. His cutting-edge innovation in translational research has attracted substantial competitive grant support from esteemed funding agencies worldwide, including a recent $48 million grant from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and a $24 million Transformation Grant from the New Frontiers in Research Fund. His many contributions to the SCI field have earned him numerous accolades, including the inaugural $1 million Visionary Prize from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation.

In his role as Director, Dr. Kwon will spearhead ICORD’s efforts to advance research and training initiatives focused on the development and application of strategies and approaches to improve the lives of those who have suffered a spinal cord injury. His visionary leadership and expertise will empower ICORD to cultivate interdisciplinary collaborations, harness state-of-the-art technologies and deliver significant research breakthroughs.

Dr. Kwon started with ICORD as a PhD student in the laboratory of Dr. Wolfram Tetzlaff in 2000. “Since then, I’ve witnessed the passion, dedication, and expertise within the ICORD community, and I have always been inspired by what we strive to achieve at ICORD and what it means to the broader SCI community,” he said.

“ICORD has a hard-earned reputation as a global leader in SCI research and innovation, and I am committed to advancing our Centre’s position for the benefit of our SCI community. I am excited to work alongside ICORD faculty, staff, and trainees over the next five years to continue moving ICORD forward in our important and far-reaching mission to conduct research and training aimed at developing better strategies for prevention, functional recovery, and enhancing quality of life after SCI.”

Dr. Kwon (centre, front) with his lab in May 2024.

Facilitating fitness for wheelchair users: exploring the AAPLEwalk v2

by Jocelyn Chan

Kat Lee and Rae Samad, second-year Master of Occupational Therapy students at UBC, are passionate about making fitness more accessible for people with mobility challenges. Working under the guidance of Dr. Jaimie Borisoff and Dr. Ben Mortenson, and in collaboration with BCIT’s REDLab team, they’ve been focused on a unique exercise device designed specifically for wheelchair users: the AAPLEwalk.

The AAPLEwalk, or Active Arm Passive Leg Exercise machine, allows individuals to perform cardiovascular exercise while standing and engaging in a walking-like motion with their lower extremities. “This device is designed for a variety of individuals who experience mobility challenges, including those with spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, stroke, and more,” Rae explained. The device combines elements of a commercially available elliptical with a powered sit-to-stand mechanism, enabling users to transfer from their wheelchair, strap in, and raise themselves to a standing position where they can exercise.

The research team recently completed an evaluation of the AAPLEwalk v2, an improved version of the original device. “The AAPLEwalk v2 was built based on user feedback from the AAPLEwalk v1,” said Kat. Key improvements included better support during the sit-to-stand motion, enhanced shin pads, and an overall increase in usability, especially for wheelchair transfers. Despite these changes, the core vision remained the same: to provide users with a safe and effective standing exercise option.

The team’s research focused on assessing the safety, usability, and functionality of the AAPLEwalk v2. They initially tested the device with able-bodied individuals to identify and address potential safety concerns, such as pressure points that could affect wheelchair users with impaired sensation. Following these adjustments, the device was tested by wheelchair users.

“All participants, able-bodied and wheelchair users alike, reported feeling safe and secure in the machine and perceived a multitude of physical and emotional health benefits to using the device,” Rae shared. Wheelchair users expressed excitement about the new exercise possibilities the device offered, with some even describing emotional experiences during their sessions, particularly the opportunity to stand and move in a way they had not in a long time.

The feedback also highlighted some areas for improvement. Wheelchair users suggested enhancements to the transfer process, increased independence in using the device, and adjustments to accommodate a wider range of body types. “There’s still room for plenty of improvement!” said Kat.

Looking ahead, the team plans to continue refining the AAPLEwalk based on user feedback. “We’ll be sending this feedback to the development team, and we expect that we’ll be seeing a third version that continues to improve the device’s usability, comfort, and safety,” Rae said. Future testing will include physiological studies to assess the device’s health benefits, with the ultimate goal of finding a commercial partner to bring the AAPLEwalk to market.

The journey to make the AAPLEwalk widely available is ongoing, but the enthusiasm and engagement from the wheelchair user community underline the importance of this work. “It was eye-opening to see how impactful this device could be for wheelchair users not only for their physical health but also for their emotional and mental well-being,” Kat reflected. “This really highlighted to us how important and valued this research is to the wheelchair user population.”

Planting seeds for STEM success

60 students from across BC participated in this summer’s seed2STEM Summer research program for Indigenous youth, and discovered some new things about science and themselves:

seed2STEM is a unique program, started at ICORD in 2018, that offers 6-week paid research internships for Indigenous students from Grade 9 to 12 plus wraparound supports such as transit passes, meals, loaner laptops and youth support workers. Program alumni who move on to post-secondary studies are offered 4-month summer research assistant positions. This year’s cohort was split between Vancouver (32 students) and Kelowna (28 students).

Students worked 25 hours a week as UBC student employees from July 2 to August 9. They spent one day a week together doing research learning modules, hearing from guest speakers, going on field trips to scientific or cultural places of interest (like the visit to STEMCELL Techologies in Vancouver on July 22), and doing hands-on learning activities.

Students separating strawberry DNA at STEMCELL Techonolgies. Photo courtesy of STEMCELL Technologies

The other four days a week, the students worked on research projects. Examples of projects from this summer include:

  • Understanding how different RNA vaccine configurations elicit immune responses to design better vaccines with fewer side effects (Blakney Lab, biomedical engineering).
  • Investigating how plants use enzymes to produce molecules with medicinal uses (Dang Lab, chemistry and biochemistry).
  • Contributing to a study of sexual dysfunction and genito-pelvic pain by creating culturally sensitive and accessible outreach materials to inform and encourage participation from Indigenous women and Two-Spirit individuals (Brotto Lab, knowledge mobilization).
  • Investigating how mitral valve clips are affected after implantation into the heart (Sellers Lab, biological research & laboratory science)
  • Understanding how diet as a treatment for SCI impacts organs such as the liver, spleen, and kidneys (Tetzlaff Lab, spinal cord injury)

On August 9, students in Vancouver and Kelowna presented their research at celebration symposia for the research community, friends, teachers, and family, with several hundred guests in attendance. The students did an amazing job with their research posters and presentations, and we are very proud of them!

Students presenting their posters at UBC-O

seed2STEM is incredibly grateful for support provided by the UBC School of Biomedical Engineering, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, BC Gynecologic Cancer Initiative, the BC Centre for Disease Control, Provincial Health Services Authority, UBC Radiology, UBC Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Stryker, the UBC Faculty of Medicine Strategic Investment Fund, the UBC Strategic Equity & Anti-Racism Enhancement Fund, the UBC Indigenous Strategic Initiatives fund, and the many generous private donors to our crowdfunding campaign.

We’re looking for laptops!

Thinking of upgrading your laptop and looking for a home for your old one that still works? seed2STEM is seeking laptops to lend to students who don’t have their own computers. If you would like to donate a laptop, please contact us!

Granzymes in the news

There is currently an intense interest in the granzyme serine protease family of enzymes and their potential roles in rheumatic diseases. A project under way in the Granville Lab, led by postdoctoral fellow Alexandre Aubert, is actively investigating the role of Granzyme B in rheumatoid arthritis. The lab was honoured to be invited to write a review for the high impact journal Nature Reviews Rheumatology last year and the review was recently published. The published review, first authored by Dr. Aubert, summarizes the current knowledge and discusses next steps to advance the field.

Article citation: Alexandre Aubert, Karen Jung, Sho Hiroyasu, Julian Pardo, David Granville. Granzymes in Inflammation and Rheumatic Disease. Nature Reviews Rheumatology, 2024 Apr 30.

This publication was also highlighted in the VCHRI Research News.

Investigating neuropathic pain in MS

Meet researcher Himali Bergeron-Vitez of the Kramer Lab

by Jocelyn Chan

Himali Bergeron-Vitez is a research assistant in Dr. Kramer’s lab, focusing on neuropathic pain. Originally from Montreal, Himali completed her undergraduate degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, before moving to Vancouver to pursue her Master’s degree in Pharmacology in the Kramer lab. “I have always been interested in neurology, with a special interest in multiple sclerosis since my godmother was diagnosed with it in 2011,” she said.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective covering of nerve fibers, called myelin, causing inflammation and damage. Although MS and spinal cord injury (SCI) are different conditions, both can result in neuropathic pain—a type of pain caused by damage or dysfunction in the nervous system.

“Unlike pain from a physical injury, like a cut or a bruise, neuropathic pain is caused by problems within the nervous system. People often describe it as a burning, stabbing, or shooting pain. It can also feel like tingling, numbness, or a ‘pins and needles’ sensation. This type of pain doesn’t always respond well to common painkillers, and it can be chronic, meaning it lasts a long time and can affect a person’s quality of life,” Himali explained.

During her Master’s, Himali focused on understanding neuropathic pain in the pre-onset phase of MS. “Analyzing a large population dataset and looking five years before MS onset, we compared the use of neuropathic pain-related prescriptions between individuals who went on to develop MS and those who didn’t. We found that MS cases were four times more likely to fill a neuropathic pain prescription in the pre-MS onset period compared to controls,” she said. This suggests that neuropathic pain may be an important feature of the pre-MS phase, offering opportunities for earlier recognition and intervention.

Currently, Himali is expanding her research to explore specific types of neuropathic pain that may be most prevalent prior to diagnosis with MS, as well as their associations with other diseases. Additionally, she is heavily involved in a neuromodulation project aimed at improving chronic pain management, particularly for those with SCI-related pain. The project involves collecting extensive quantitative and qualitative data to build a predictive model for neuromodulation success using statistical methods and machine learning.

“We’re trying to build a tool that could help create objective criteria for predicting the success of neuromodulation therapy in individuals living with chronic pain, some of whom have pain originating from SCI,” Himali explained. “The prediction of successful trials could decrease failure rates, minimize costs, reduce false hopes among patients, and improve the efficiency of clinical procedures.” The introduction of neuromodulation for chronic pain, along with improved objective criteria for spinal cord stimulation success, could represent a significant advancement in the field of pain management.


SCIRE is 20 years old!

by Janice Eng

In 2004, Janice Eng, Bill Miller, and Andrea Townson from ICORD, in collaboration with Parkwood Hospital researchers proposed the Spinal Cord Injury Research Evidence proposal which received funding from ICORD. It was revolutionary at the time to place evidence-based content free on the internet, compared to the well controlled journal venue that was not accessible to clinicians. At first, the team was concerned that putting the content on the website would prevent them from then publishing their content later in a traditional manner. However, editors of journals saw the website and were so impressed with it and asked that team to submit the content to their journals.

SCIRE Professional grew from a few evidence-based chapters to 38 current modules with hundreds of topics, including abdominal binders, pediatric SCI, sexual health, neuroprotection and employment. SCIRE also cover hundreds of outcome measures specific to spinal cord injury, and explains how to do them and describe their validity.

A SCIRE Community interface for people living with SCI and their families was added, written in lay accessible language. Multi-media was added with a Youtube channel of videos demonstrating outcome measures or procedures. The Breastfeeding after SCI video series is one of the most accessed.

In 2023, SCIRE added new modules specifically for primary care clinicians who can find it challenging to care for a patient population that they have received little training for. The SCIRE team’s data searching abilities are known internationally and have been contracted to support the Canadian Spinal Cord Practice Best Practice Guidelines and the Paralyzed Veterans of America Clinical Practice Guidelines.

The core foundation of SCIRE is based on an updated synthesis of the research evidence underlying interventions to improve the health of people living with SCI. While the SCIRE team is primarily based at ICORD and Parkwood Hospital, over 70 faculty from around the world contribute to SCIRE. For example, Dr. Peter New, head of the Caulfield Spinal Rehab Unit in Australia is our latest contributing expert for upcoming content on non-traumatic SCI. SCIRE has a far reach with over one-quarter million users per year. Over 80 peer-reviewed publications have been generated from SCIRE. A published evaluation of SCIRE showed that it increased access to evidence-based information, increased knowledge of the evidence, informed changes to the health providers’ practice, and influenced their clinical decision making.

SCIRE is generously supported by the Rick Hansen Foundation.


The Gainforth Lab published two papers recently:

Help us do research

Interested in helping ICORD researchers make SCI preventable, livable, and curable? These research studies (and more) are in need of participants!

Sedentary behaviour and people with physical disabilities INTerview (SBrINT)

Researchers in the SCI Action Canada Lab are exploring how people with physical disabilities experience sedentary behaviour (i.e., sitting still for long periods of time). Participants will be interviewed to explore what they know about sedentary behaviour and its effects on health and well-being as well as how they experience these behaviours on a regular basis. Read more . . . 

Determining a standard location to measure tissue oxygen levels in healthy adults

Researchers in Dr. Babak Shadgan’s lab are investigating how oxygen levels vary across different parts of the body in healthy people. Their goal is to find one spot on the body where oxygen levels are similar among multiple individuals. Read More…

Fatigue properties of the first dorsal interosseous muscle in SCI

Dr. Berger’s team is studying why people with SCI experience greater muscle fatigue than healthy people. Increased amounts of muscle fatigue can negatively impact quality of life by interfering with daily activities. The study involves performing hand strength tests and undergoing electrical stimulation techniques. Learn More…

Diagnosis of Compartment Syndrome using a non-invasive optical method

The Shadgan Lab is researching a method to estimate the Tissue Perfusion Index using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) parameters to enhance patient monitoring and clinical decision-making, involving participants undergoing pressure adjustments on their arms while sensors measure blood flow and oxygen levels over multiple sessions. Read More…

Co-developing a novel intervention to promote wellbeing of family caregivers and individuals with spinal cord injury

Dr. Bill Miller and his research team are exploring the use of an eHealth tool developed to optimize the well-being of family caregivers of individuals with a spinal cord injury. Participation in this study will contribute to the developing resources to support caregivers’. Read More…

 

Click here to browse all the ICORD studies currently recruiting participants.

Interested in participating in ICORD research but feeling overwhelmed by the number of studies?

Our Study Liaisons are here to help!

Interested in participating in ICORD research but feeling overwhelmed by the number of studies? Meet our new study liaisons, Sam Douglas and Ali Williams!
Ali is the manager of Dr. Tania Lam’s Human Locomotion Lab, and Sam is an IT Support Analyst at Praxis Spinal Cord Institute.
Sam and Ali will work with you to narrow down what studies you may be eligible for. Over a few short phone calls, they will ask you questions about your research interests as well as common study inclusion and exclusion criteria. From there, they will tailor a list of research studies for you and provide details and contact information for each one. They can also directly connect you with study coordinators if you like.

Send them an email to begin your consultation!

Partner news

Read The Spin!

SCI BC’s Summer 2024 issue of The Spin includes articles on adaptive paragliding, AI as assistive technology, nutrition for people with SCI, and more!

Highlighting Participant Stories

VCHRI is pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative showcasing participant stories. These narratives offer personal insights into the diverse motivations behind individuals’ engagement in research studies. By sharing these stories, VCHRI aims to humanize the scientific process and highlight the invaluable contributions of research participants to advancing healthcare knowledge and innovation. Explore these inspiring accounts at VCHRI Participant Stories.

Free school resources

Did you know that the Rick Hansen Foundation offers free educational resources to help students learn about disability awareness, accessibility and inclusion? Learn more here!

Thanks for reading this issue of The ICORDian – we hope you enjoyed it! Please subscribe and have future issues delivered to your inbox. If you have any comments about this issue or suggestions for future ones, please contact us.

 

 

Jocelyn Chan, Himali Bergeron-Vitez, Kat Lee, Rae Samad, Janice Eng, Katie Ashwell, and Cheryl Niamath for their contributions to this issue of our newsletter.