Gene therapy to boost rehabilitation success following spinal cord injury
Globally there are estimated to be more than 20 million people living with a spinal cord injury (SCI) and nearly a million new cases each year.
SCI interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the rest of the body and can result in permanent paralysis, loss of sensation and an inability to regulate functions like breathing and blood pressure, seriously diminishing quality of life.
Despite important research progress, there is still no clinically available solution to repair the spinal cord.
The collaborative Wyss Center, CHUV, NeuroRestore, EPFL team at Campus Biotech is designing a gene therapy that can be combined with neuroprosthetic rehabilitation to improve recovery, restore walking and enable people to restart daily activities after spinal cord injury.