Spinal Cord Injury: Progress, Promise, and Priorities (2005)

Richard T. Johnson, M.D. (Chair), is Distinguished Service Professor of Neurology, Microbiology and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. His clinical and research work is focused on infections and inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the nervous system. He authored the highly cited book Viral Infections of the Nervous System and edited a widely used biennial volume Current Therapy in Neurological Diseases. Dr. Johnson has published more than 300 articles and chapters. He is currently the editor of Annals of Neurology. Dr. Johnson has been active in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society since 1970, serving as the chair of its Research Programs Advisory Committee from 1981 to 1983 and the Medical Advisory Board from 1985 to 1900. Dr. Johnson was awarded the Jean Martin Charcot Award from the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies in 1985 and was the first recipient, in 1989, of the Association of British Neurologists’ Multiple Sclerosis Society Medal. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2003 and has been an member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) since 1987. He has chaired several IOM committees, including a committee that studied prion disease (2003) and a committee that reviewed the connection between childhood vaccinations and neurological illness (2001).

Albert J. Aguayo, M.D., is university professor and former director of the Center for Research in Neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal,

Quebec, Canada. Dr. Aguayo was among the first to demonstrate that spinal cord regeneration is possible in the mature, mammalian central nervous system. Most recently, his research has uncovered methods to promote the regeneration of damaged optic nerves. Dr. Aguayo is secretary-general of the International Brain Research Organization and serves on the Consortium Advisory Panel of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and several other agencies and foundations. Among other awards, he is a past recipient of one of Canada’s most prestigious scientific awards, the Killam Prize, for his “distinguished lifetime achievement and outstanding contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of natural sciences, health sciences, and engineering.” He has served as president of the Society for Neuroscience, the Canadian Association of Neuroscience, and the Canadian Neurological Society. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1990 and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Jeremiah A. Barondess, M.D., is president of the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) and professor emeritus of clinical medicine at Cornell University. Dr. Barondess has written extensively on various topics in internal medicine, clinical ethics, and physician training. At NYAM he oversees programs aimed at exploring the interrelationship among medicine, science, and society; the improvement of the biomedical research enterprise; and a broad agenda of research and interventions on issues in urban health. Dr. Barondess is the founder of the coalition Doctors Against Handgun Injury. He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Johns Hopkins University, the Board of Trustees of the Associates of the Yale Medical Library, and the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars. Dr. Barondess is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Federation for Aging Research. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1971. He has chaired three IOM studies: one on musculoskeletal injury in the workplace (2001), another on health care systems and rheumatic disease (1997), and a third on technology assessment in medicine (1983).

Mary Bartlett Bunge, Ph.D., is professor of cell biology and anatomy and neurological surgery and the Christine E. Lynn Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and works in the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Dr. Bunge was a pioneer in elucidating the structure and function of cells that insulate nerve projections and, more recently, in developing a new spinal cord injury model and novel combination strategies to improve repair of the injured spinal cord. Her laboratory conducts preclinical studies aimed at developing neuroprotective or neuroregenerative therapies for spinal cord injuries. These therapies include the transplantation of genetically modified cells to

facilitate regeneration in seriously damaged spinal cords. She has served on National Institutes of Health study sections and the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council. She received the Wakeman Award (1996) for her seminal contributions to the field of spinal cord injury repair, the Christopher Reeve Research Medal for Spinal Cord Repair (2001), and the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award (1998) and was the first recipient of the Mika Salpeter Women in Neuroscience Life-time Achievement Award (2000). From 1996 to 1997 she served as interim scientific director of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. She is a member of the research consortium of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives.

Fred H. Gage, Ph.D., is the Vi and John Adler Professor of the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California. Dr. Gage’s research focuses on the structural plasticity in the adult nervous system. In addition to studying the mechanism and function of adult neurogenesis, his research efforts also focus on genetic engineering and cell transplantation strategies to reverse or restore function lost as a result of neurodegeneration or neurotrauma. In 1998 he led the team that discovered neural stem cells in the human brain. His professional activities have included service on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advisory Council on Aging, the NIH Working Group on Guidelines for the Use of Human Embryonic Stem Cells, the Research Consortium of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, and the Advisory Board of the American Society of Gene Therapy. Dr. Gage has also served on the editorial boards of more than two dozen scientific journals and as president of the Society for Neuroscience. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the NIH Merit Award, and the Decade of the Brain Medal. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2001 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2003 and served on an IOM committee that studied the biological impact of exposure to electromagnetic fields (1996).

Suzanne T. Ildstad, M.D., is director of the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics (ICT), the Jewish Hospital Distinguished Professor of Transplantation, and professor of surgery at the University of Louisville. ICT is a multi-disciplinary translational research program designed to develop cellular therapies and rapidly transfer them from the laboratory to the clinic. Dr. Ildstad’s research focuses on developing methods to make bone marrow transplantation safe enough for widespread application for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, the induction of tolerance to organ and islet cell transplants, and the treatment of hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia. She is credited with being the first to discover “facilitator cells,” which are bone marrow cells that enhance engraftment

of bone marrow stem cells while avoiding graft-versus-host reactivity. She also pioneered the use of mixed chimerism to induce tolerance to allografts and xenografts. More recently, Dr. Ildstad’s research has focused on stem cell plasticity for the regeneration of damaged organs, including cardiac and retinal tissue. She holds numerous patents related to her research and is the founding scientist of Regenerex, L.L.C., a biotechnology company whose vision is to provide an engineered bone marrow graft to improve the safety of bone marrow transplantation. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1997 and has served on IOM committees studying organ transplantation policies (1999), multiple sclerosis research strategies (2001), and the challenges of small clinical trials (2001), a committee that she chaired.

John A. Jane, Sr., M.D., Ph.D., F.R.C.S.(C.), is professor of neurosurgery and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center. Dr. Jane’s clinical and research efforts focus on the surgical treatment of severe spine and head injuries. His clinic treated nearly 400 individuals with spinal cord injuries in the year 2002, and he treated Christopher Reeve in the immediate aftermath of the actor’s 1995 horseback riding accident. He is widely known for his seminal research characterizing cranial aneurysms, for his development of modern craniofacial surgical techniques, and as an educator of many of the nation’s leading neurosurgeons. Dr. Jane is a recipient of the Grass Foundation Award for his outstanding commitment to neurosurgical research. He has served as director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and president of the Society of Neurological Surgeons. Since 1992 he has been the editor of the Journal of Neurosurgery, and since 1999 he has been the editor of Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine.

Lynn T. Landmesser, Ph.D., is the Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosciences at Case Western Research University. Dr. Landmesser’s research involves characterization of the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the guidance of growing nerve projections, specifically, of spinal motor neurons, and for the formation of functional motor circuits in the developing spinal cord. Her professional activities include service as president of the Society for Developmental Biology, chair of the Neuroscience Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Landmesser was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2001. She is a member of the NAS committee responsible for evaluating national workforce needs in the biomedical and behavioral sciences.

Linda B. Miller, OTR, M.S., is president of the Volunteer Trustees Foundation in Washington, D.C., a consortium of not-for-profit health facility governing boards. Ms. Miller has extensive experience with advocacy and funding mechanisms and the processes of health care institutions and foundations across the nation. She has taught orthotics and prosthetics and for 5 years served as an occupational therapist at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York, specializing in spinal cord injury and early biomechanical attempts at function restoration. Ms. Miller served as a member of the National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel on Liver Transplantation, she has advocated and written extensively on issues of not-for-profit health care, and her writings have been published in both the medical and the popular press. Ms. Miller was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1997.

P. Hunter Peckham, Ph.D., is a professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University and is the director of the Functional Electrical Stimulation Center, a consortium of the Cleveland Veterans Association Medical Center, Metro Health Center, and Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Peckham’s research focuses on the use of electrical currents and neural implants to stimulate nerve and muscular function in individuals with central nervous system paralysis. His work has earned him numerous awards, including special recognition from the Food and Drug Administration for his role in the multicenter clinical development of a hand-grasp prosthesis for patients with spinal cord dysfunction. In 2001, he received the Paul B. Magnuson Award, “in recognition of outstanding rehabilitation research dedicated to seeking new knowledge to benefit the nation’s veterans.” Dr. Peckham holds multiple patents related to his work. In 1996-1997 he chaired the National Institutes of Health National Advisory Board to the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. Dr. Peckham was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2002.

Robert T. Schimke, M.D., is emeritus professor of biological sciences and emeritus research professor of the American Cancer Society at Stanford University in Palo Alto. In 1995 he had a bicycling accident that damaged his spinal cord at level C5-C6, rendering him paralyzed from the waist down and with limited upper-extremity function. He is well known for his work in gene amplification and DNA replication and repair. He is credited with opening the field of protein degradation. Dr. Schimke received the W. C. Rose Award in Biochemistry in 1983 and the Sloan Prize from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1976 and to the Institute of Medicine in 1983.

Christopher B. Shields, M.D., F.R.C.S.(C.), is a professor and department chair at the Norton Hospital and the clinical director of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Louisville School of Medicine. Dr. Shields has extensive experience treating and advocating for individuals with spinal cord injuries. He was instrumental in the development of legislation in the state of Kentucky to provide increased support for spinal cord injury research. His work involves numerous animal and clinical studies aimed at treating spinal cord injuries using such techniques as intraoperative imaging, stem cell grafts, and hypothermia. Dr. Shields is a past president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and he has served on numerous scientific editorial boards and as the chair of the Cerebrovascular Section of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

Stephen G. Waxman, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor and chair of the Department of Neurology and director of the Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research, a collaboration of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the United Spinal Association with Yale University. He is a professor of neurobiology and pharmacology and neurologist-in-chief at Yale University. His laboratory focuses on the molecular processes that underlie functional recovery in spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis. He has served on numerous scientific advisory committees, including advisory boards of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Spinal Cord Research Foundation, the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and Acorda Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology firm that develops drugs to treat spinal cord injuries and several other neurological disorders. He has received the Wartenberg Award, the highest honor awarded by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), and the Dystel Prize for MS research, awarded by the AAN and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He has edited and written several books on basic and clinical neuroscience, including Spinal Cord Compression; Diseases of the Spine and Spinal Cord; and The Axon: Structure, Function, and Pathophysiology. He is also the editor of The Neuroscientist and serves on the editorial boards of more than a dozen scientific journals. Dr. Waxman was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1996 and served on an IOM committee that reviewed the state of research in multiple sclerosis (2001).

Sid Gilman, M.D., F.R.C.P., is the William J. Herdman Professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School. He has held the position of professor and chair of the Department

of Neurology since 1977. His research work is in vestibular and cerebellar physiology and in the pathophysiological processes underlying neurodegenerative disorders, notably, cerebellar ataxias, Parkinson’s disease, parkinsonian syndromes, and Alzheimer’s disease. From 1988 to 2000 he served as director of the state of Michigan’s program in the dementias, currently designated the Michigan Dementia Program. In 1991 he became director of the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. He has received numerous honors and awards. In 1997 he became the William J. Herdman Professor of Neurology and remained chair of the Department of Neurology. In 1997 he was designated an honorary member of the American Neurological Association, and in 2000 he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was named the Henry Russel Lecturer at the University of Michigan for 2001, the highest honor that the university bestows upon a senior faculty member. In 2001 he was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and in the same year, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a past president of the American Neurological Association. Before going to the University of Michigan, Dr. Gilman held faculty and hospital appointments at Harvard Medical School and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. He is editor-in-chief of the Contemporary Neurology Series and MedLink Neurology and a member of the editorial boards of seven other neurological journals. He became editor-in-chief of the journal Experimental Neurology in January 2003. Dr. Gilman has published about 400 scientific papers, book chapters, and abstracts, including seven books that he coauthored or edited. He earned an undergraduate degree in 1954 and an M.D. degree in 1957, both from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Andrew Pope, Ph.D., is director of the Board on Health Sciences Policy and the Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health at the Institute of Medicine. With a Ph.D. in physiology and biochemistry, his primary interests focus on environmental and occupational influences on human health. Dr. Pope’s previous research activities focused on the neuroendocrine and reproductive effects of various environmental substances in food-producing animals. During his tenure at the National Academies and since 1989 at the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Pope has directed numerous studies; topics include injury control, disability prevention, biological markers, neurotoxicology, indoor allergens, and the enhancement of environmental and occupational health content in medical and nursing school curricula. Most recently, Dr. Pope directed studies on National Institutes of Health

priority-setting processes, organ procurement and transplantation policy, and the role of science and technology in countering terrorism.

Catharyn T. Liverman, M.L.S., is a senior program officer at the Institute of Medicine (IOM). In her 12 years at IOM, she has worked on studies addressing a range of topics, primarily focused on public health and science policy. Most recently she was the study director for the IOM committee that produced the report Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance. Other recent studies include Testosterone and Aging: Clinical Research Directions, Gulf War and Health, and Reducing the Burden of Injury. Her background is in medical library science, with previous positions at the National Agricultural Library and the Naval War College Library. She received a B.A. from Wake Forest University and an M.L.S. from the University of Maryland.

Janet Joy, Ph.D., served as a senior program officer at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) from 1994 through August 2004. She has directed a number of IOM studies, including Multiple Sclerosis: Current Status and Strategies for the Future (2001), Stem Cells and the Promise of Regenerative Medicine (2002), and, most recently, Integration and Innovation: A Framework for Progress in Early Detection and Diagnosis of Breast Cancer (2004). Dr. Joy received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Toronto in 1983, after which she did postdoctoral work at the University of Texas and Northwestern University and then spent 5 years at the National Institute of Mental Health as a senior staff fellow. She is coauthor with Alison Mack of the book Marijuana as Medicine?: The Science Beyond the Controversy.

Michael Abrams, M.P.H., served as a program officer with the Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). He directed the IOM study that resulted in the report Incorporating Research into Psychiatry Residency Training. Mr. Abrams earned a master’s in public health degree from Johns Hopkins University (2000), in which he focused his studies on childhood mental health disorders. From 1997 to 2001 he served as a junior faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. From 1994 to 2001 he was involved in and managed structural and functional neuroimaging experiments aimed at the elucidation of neuropathologies that underlie various genetic disorders affecting learning and language in children. From 1990 to 1994 he worked as a research assistant on a behavioral genetics investigation that focused on fragile X and Turner syndromes. He has written 25 peer-reviewed publications.

Bruce M. Altevogt, Ph.D., is a program officer at the Institute of Medicine. In 2004 he received his doctorate from Harvard University’s Program in Neuroscience. Since joining the Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, he has worked on the spinal cord injury study and is currently directing the IOM study Sleep Disorders: Research, Education, Training, and Practice. While at Harvard, Dr. Altevogt studied how glial cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems form a network of cells through intracellular communication, and the role this network plays in maintaining myelin. In addition to Dr. Altevogt’s work at Harvard, he also has performed research at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia. He received a B.A. from the University of Virginia, where he majored in biology and minored in South Asian studies.

Kathleen M. Patchan is a research associate at the Institute of Medicine (IOM). In addition to her work on the spinal cord injury study, she has worked on a study on health literacy and assisted with staffing IOM’s Sarnat Award. She recently worked on the IOM study that resulted in the report Incorporating Research into Psychiatry Residency Training. Previously, at the Congressional Research Service and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, she conducted research and wrote reports on Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and state-funded immigrant health care. She has also worked at the Institute for Health Policy Solutions, where she developed reports on SCHIP and employer-sponsored health insurance. Ms. Patchan graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park with a B.S. in cell and molecular biology and a B.A. in history.

Lora K. Taylor is a senior project assistant for the Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health at the Institute of Medicine. She has 11 years of experience working at the National Academies and before joining the Institute of Medicine served as the administrative associate for the Report Review Committee and the Division on Life Sciences’ Ocean Studies Board. Ms. Taylor has a B.A. from Georgetown University with a double major in psychology and fine arts.

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