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Pre-Clinical Research Video now available - Working 2 Walk 2020

Featured speakers for the Pre-clinical research session in this year's Working 2 Walk Symposium

Check out the second of five video segments from our Working 2 Walk 2020 Virtual Symposium: Pre-Clinical Research.

If you weren't able to join us last fall, you can now watch the Pre-Clinical Research portion of the symposium here on our video library page (or here on our YouTube channel).

Last year’s symposium was broken into five key stakeholder sessions:

  • Clinical Research: research performed with humans
  • Pre-Clinical Research: research done in laboratory experiments and animal models
  • Industry / Biotech: companies that are trying to bring a research discovery to a clinical product
  • Funding Agencies & Organizations: agencies or foundations that fund research of all kinds
  • SCI Community Advocacy and Activism

The Pre-Clinical Research Session included presentations and a panel discussion with the following individuals:

  • Nick Jeffery, PhD | Professor, Neurology & Neurosurgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University
    Dr. Jeffery discussed his use of chondroitinase ABC (or "Chase") in clinically paralyzed dogs as a model for translating therapies to human relevance. He posed some questions about the modeling of SCI in animals, the positive effects he has discovered using Chase and how to better determine what the SCI community is looking for from a potential therapeutic.
  • Molly Shoichet, PhD, O.C., O.Ont., FRS | Professor of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry and Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
    Dr. Shoichet discussed her recent publication regarding the stabilization and improved efficacy of Chase through genetic mutation and the use of a novel hydrogel. Her team’s work may suggest a renewed interest in the potential for translating a new version of Chase to human potential.

  • Candace Floyd, MS, PhD | Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurosurgery; Associate Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Utah  
    Dr. Floyd’s presentation raised some questions around the models for translation given the difficult path discoveries must tread to get to human relevance. Her lab at the University of Utah uses a pig model in both male and female animals and has developed what she will suggest is highly translatable and clinically relevant. She discussed the importance of sex as a biological variable (male / female models) and suggest that the pig model is more closely related to humans than the rodent.  

These presentations are followed by a panel discussion, moderated by U2FP Board Member Sasha Rabchevsky, PhD .

The segment ends with a short performance by musician Eric Howk.

This "Artist Interlude" (as we called them) was part of a new effort we pioneered this year to bring artists into the conversation. The driving purpose was to more deeply connect the science of SCI Research with the soul of the SCI Community. It got great reviews from our attendees - we think you'll love it too!

We at U2FP are proud to make these videos available to the public for free. We also provide free access to all of our past symposiums, which total over 50 hours of presentations from a decade of recorded talks (you can scroll down on our Video Library page to access these). This on-going service is made possible by the generous support of our donors and symposium sponsors.

If you value these and other resources U2FP makes available to the SCI and Scientific Communities, consider making a donation in support of our work.