Connect – Winter 2013 - Spinal Cure Australia

NEWSLETTER WINTER 2013
RESEARCH
ROUNDUP continued....
5 WAYS YOU CAN HELP
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reported in the journal Cell, in January, details how
scientists discovered that leprosy bacteria can
reprogram cells into a stem-cell-like state. The
mechanism of the reprogramming is unclear, but
reproducing it could lead to new stem-cell-based
therapeutic strategies. In other recent studies, two
drugs normally used to treat unrelated conditions,
one for cancer and one for ailments such as
arthritis, were found to improve outcomes in spinal
cord injury.
▶Get fit and raise funds
Visit www.everydayhero.com.au and sign up for the next fun
event, choosing SpinalCure as your charity
A bequest is a wonderful way to help all those affected by spinal
cord injury
▶Donate an auction item
An experience or item we can auction or raffle to raise funds
▶Make a donation
Online at www.spinalcure.org.au or complete the form below.
THANK YOU
DONATION FORM
Our quest for a cure for spinal cord injury relies on your generous support.
On behalf of all those living with this devastating condition, we thank you.
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SPINAL CURE AUSTRALIA
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SpinalCure Ambassador Rodger Corser with
Oscars Luncheon co-host, Renee Brack
Their work over the last 8 years has enhanced the understanding of the role of
the protein EphA4 in spinal cord injury to the level where clinical trials are
now imminent.
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Best known for his starring roles in the TV
series Rush, Underbelly and Puberty Blues,
Rodger is a very welcome addition to our
support network.
@spinalcure
www.spinalcure.org.au
www.spinalcure.org.au
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news.
We are delighted to announce that actor
Rodger Corser has agreed to be a SpinalCure
Ambassador. Along with his co-host Renee
Brack, Rodger did a terrific job at the recent
SpinalCure Oscars Luncheon. Rodger is a long
time friend of our Honorary Director and
Victorian advocate, Gary Allsop, having
recorded at Gary’s studio early in his career.
In 2005, thanks to a generous bequest from the late Lisa Palmer, SpinalCure was able to fund the
establishment of the Lisa Palmer Consortium. The consortium, headed by SpinalCure co-founder
and Director, Professor Perry Bartlett, comprises scientists from the Queensland Brain Institute
(QBI), Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) and the University
of Melbourne Centre for Neuroscience.
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RODGER CORSER BECOMES
A SPINALCURE AMBASSADOR
A STEP CLOSER TO CLINICAL
TRIALS
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Funding research to cure spinal cord injury
▶Make a gift to SpinalCure in
your Will
It feels like the last 20 years of seemingly slow
progress has pushed us to the top of the hill and
now we are on the downhill run, with the search for
a cure finally gaining some serious momentum.
Dr
c nnect
www.spinalcure.org.au
▶Help spread the word
SpinalCure has recently advanced the final $200,000 of the
original bequest to help make those trials a reality.
In a paper soon to be published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, the team
shows how blocking the action of EphA4 with a ‘decoy’ protein, EphA4-Fc,
significantly improves recovery of function in rats with acute spinal cord
injuries.
“The idea would be to use the ‘decoy’ treatment immediately after
spinal cord injury to try to improve the patient’s recovery.” said
Professor Boyd of QIMR. “... If you could improve function even
marginally for a quadriplegic, you could make a massive difference
to their life.”
L to R: Prof Andrew Boyd , Ms Sophie
Tajouri and Prof Perry Bartlett
IT’S EASY TO
DONATE
Visit our website
www.spinalcure.org.au
or simply use the form
on the back page
SUPPORTING
THE SEARCH
FOR A CURE
Our dear friends the Macarthur Lions
are once again gearing up for their
SpinalCure Charity Golf Day.
Remarkably this will be the 15th annual
event, to be held this year on 9th
September at the Camden Lakeside
Country Club. (more info: goo.gl/Juoig)
International insurance broker,
Gallagher Australia, have also chosen to
support SpinalCure on their 2013 Golf
Day. A heartfelt thank you to Andrew
Godden, Andrew Quartermaine and all
at Gallagher’s for their support.
Each year journalists of the Federal
Parliamentary Press Gallery in Canberra
and the politicians they cover, lay down
their arms for a black-tie knees-up before
Parliament’s winter break. We are very
pleased to announce that this year,
SpinalCure is to share in the proceeds of
this prestigious charity event. A big
thank you goes to the Press Gallery for
including us.
In 2007 Raymond Luxa suffered a
serious back injury which came very
close to leaving him a paraplegic. After
such a narrow escape Raymond is keen
to help those whose injuries were more
severe, so on 11th August he will step up
to the starting line of the 2013 City2Surf
in Sydney to raise funds for spinal cord
injury research. Also supporting
SpinalCure in the race will be Diggerie
Dug! You can find the both on Everyday
Hero (www.everydayhero.com.au).
2013 OSCARS LUNCHEON
The scientific community has
continued to hold our interest and
keep us optimistic over the last six
months. Driving this optimism is the
continued shift of potential therapies
from the laboratory to the clinic. The
great variety of approaches that have
reached this milestone continue to
support the idea that a
comprehensive cure will involve a
mixture of treatments.
The Academy Awards came to the Ivy
Ballroom, Sydney in February.
Hosted by actor Rodger Corser and
TV presenter Renee Brack, the event
proved to be the perfect place to
experience the glamour of
Hollywood’s night of nights.
Celebrities and famous faces joined
sponsor OK Magazine and SpinalCure
supporters to watch the Academy
Awards live on four enormous screens.
Rodger Corser took the microphone to
the tables, interviewing SpinalCure
CEO Duncan Wallace and Chair and
co-founder, Joanna Knott. SpinalCure
Ambassador, Sandra Sully gave a
heartfelt and poignant talk about her
involvement with spinal cord injury and
Dr Bryce Vissel inspired the guests with an
update on spinal cord injury research.
Also enjoying the afternoon was long time
SpinalCure supporter Eileen “Red” Bond.
Eileen has long been a treasured supporter
of SpinalCure and SCI research in WA.
Fine Wine Partners kept glasses filled
with St Hallet wines while Cointreau added
a little zest with a cocktail on arrival.
Merivale staff quietly averted a potential
disaster when the kitchen’s gas supply was
Top: Hosts Rodger Corser and Renee Brack.
Centre: Rodger Corser with SpinalCure
Ambassador Sandra Sully. Bottom: Jess
Francis and Merilyn Bullen sell raffle tickets.
lost. The delicious three-course meal was
to help Australian scientists keep up-to-date with international SCI
research progress, SpinalCure has introduced an annual round of
Travel Grants. The first to be awarded for the 2013-14 period goes
to Daniel Amaya who is in the closing stages of his PhD
candidature at the Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith
University, Queensland. Daniel will be travelling to the Federation
2013 was ushered in with news that
doctors at Miami Miller School of
Medicine, performed the first-ever
FDA approved Schwann cell
transplantation in a patient with a
new spinal cord injury. This was the
first of eight planned for a Phase 1
safety trial. The cells are taken from
the patient’s leg, cultured in the lab,
and then transplanted back into the
body. Myelinating Schwann cells
wrap around axons of motor and
sensory neurons to form the myelin
sheath which is lost after spinal cord
injury. Another type of Schwann cell,
olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG), is
found in the nose — in the olfactory
bulb. Previously, news of the
successful use of these cells, in dogs
which had suffered accidental spinal
cord injury, came from Cambridge
University UK.
One of the problems encountered in
attempts to promote nerve growth in
the spinal cord has been the
reluctance of nerves to cross the
empty space that remains after nerve
death in chronic SCI. One possible
solution to this is the use of scaffolds
or conduits to guide the nerves
across the gap. In April the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration approved
InVivo Therapeutics’ biopolymer
scaffold as a “Humanitarian Use
Device”. Historically, companies that
have received this status have been
able to bring products to market
several years faster than other
regulatory paths would have allowed.
InVivo is now waiting for the green
light to begin clinical trials with the
scaffold.
In June last year the SCI community
was buzzing with the news of
research from Grégoire Courtine’s
lab in Switzerland. It demonstrated
full recovery of rats with SCI,
through coupling a drug cocktail with
perfectly cooked on hastily acquired
bottled gas. Well done Merivale!
And whilst our Hugh did not bring home
the Oscar, everyone was a winner at the
SpinalCure lunch with many guests taking
home raffle and auction prizes.
All-in-all it was a thoroughly enjoyable
afternoon, expertly organised by Amanda
Fry and her diligent team at 6DC.
SPINALCURE TRAVEL GRANTS
With a view to promoting collaboration between researchers and
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
of European Neurosciences conference in Prague this September.
Daniel has co-authored several papers with leading SCI scientists,
notably Prof Alan MacKay-Sim and Dr James St John,
concerning the use of olfactory ensheathing glia (cells from the
nose) in the remyelination and regeneration of spinal cord
neurons. Transplantation of these cells into the spinal cord is a
promising possible therapy for spinal cord damage.
STUDYING WALK ON
It is now generally accepted that intensive
exercise programs are likely to be a part of
any successful treatment for spinal cord
injury. In 2011, with a view to investigating
the physiological and psychosocial benefits
of the Walk On exercise program,
SpinalCure and Spinal Cord Injuries
Australia (SCIA) jointly awarded a PhD
scholarship to Ms Camila Quel de
Oliveira, a Brazilian physiotherapist from
Sao Paulo. Camila, working at the
Walk On centre in Sydney, is studying
changes in function, mobility and quality
of life, and identifying any associated
economic benefits experienced by
participants in the program.
Duncan Wallace and
Camila Quel de Oliveira
On a recent visit to the Walk On gym at
the University of Sydney campus in
Lidcombe, Camila showed SpinalCure’s
Duncan Wallace through her research and
discussed her first few results.
Encouragingly, these seem to back up the
anecdotal evidence that the program is
good for you, in mind, body and soul. It
was obvious from the cheerful atmosphere
and intensity of effort displayed by those
exercising, that the Walk On clients
consider the program highly worthwhile.
Camila is still in need of more volunteers
for her research. If you are thinking of
joining the Walk On program please also
consider taking part in her study.
electrical stimulation of the spinal
cord, below the level of injury. After
two weeks, the animals were able to
walk, climb stairs and run.
Courtine’s team now say they are
preparing five incomplete SCI
patients for human trials of the
technology.
Prof Courtine explains, “We know
that spinal cord stimulation is safe,
we know that training is good, so we
want to start the first trial in people
who can move their legs but cannot
walk independently.”
In a further validation of the benefits
of training, but using non-invasive
stimulation, a study by US scientists
at the Kennedy Krieger Institute has
shown the functional electrical
stimulation (FES) cycling promotes
recovery in chronic spinal cord
injury. In addition to the enhanced
physical health resulting from the
increased exercise, improvements
also involved actual neurological and
functional gains.
And researchers continue to surprise
us, and probably themselves, with
unexpected results. One such study,
continued overleaf....