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sector_ico_Health_trans Human Health

Biomarkers for Crossing the Translational Divide in Acute Spinal Cord Injury

BRC011
  • Project Leaders: Brian Kwon
  • Institutions: University of British Columbia (UBC)
  • Budget: $3000000
  • Program/Competition: Partner Programs
  • Genome Centre(s): Genome British Columbia
  • Fiscal Year: 2015
  • Status: Closed

There are currently no neuro-restorative treatments for acute spinal cord injury (SCI). The few promising experimental therapies for SCI that have been translated to humans have failed to demonstrate convincing efficacy after lengthy and expensive clinical trials. This project specifically address this challenge by:
• Characterizing the temporal ‘omic’ pathophysiology profile within cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples obtained from acute SCI patients
• Establishing biomarkers of injury severity, secondary injury progression, and predictors of neurologic recovery
• Conducting a parallel ‘omic’ analysis of CSF and serum samples from a large animal model (pig) of SCI to identify biologic commonalities and establish predictive biologic outcome measures for monitoring injury progression and therapeutic response in both human and animal systems