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February 17, 2023

Spinal Stimulation 101 (part 2) - CureCast Episode 72

byMatthew Rodreick
graphic of a spine and a stimulator device with the CureCast logo at bottom

We’re continuing our conversation around spinal cord stimulation in part 2 of this multi-episode series with Sam Maddox, a long-time SCI science writer and U2FP’s Scientific Advisory Board Director. Today we’re going to focus on what’s happening currently with some spinal stimulation researchers, what clinical outcomes they are targeting, how they are connected to each other and how their approaches differ.

Additionally, you’ll hear Matthew and Sam share the insight they gained from their time at a recent neuromodulation conference, The Moving Beyond Isolated Systems Symposium. This symposium was the first-ever multi-disciplinary, multi-generational gathering of the international e-stim field, organized by Susan Harkema and David Magnuson of the University of Louisville. (You can read the in-depth write-up Sam produced on this event in the More Resources section below.)

We hope this series on spinal stimulation provides a mix of basic and higher level concepts, as well as addressing the big questions that are still on the table. We’re always trying to make these conversations better and the only way that we can do that is with your feedback. Share your thoughts by emailing us at curecast@u2fp.org.

Listen Now!


Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Soundcloud

Bumper music: Me and My Bones by Freaque


Guest Bio
Sam Maddox (of Los Angeles, California) is former Knowledge Manager and spinal cord injury research writer for the Reeve Foundation. He is the author of several books related to chronic health and paralysis, including four editions of the Paralysis Resource Guide, published by the Reeve Foundation. In 1992 Maddox wrote the first comprehensive history of spinal cord injury research, The Quest for Cure: Restoring Function After Spinal Cord Injury. He wrote and published the widely acclaimed resource book Spinal Network, and is founder of New Mobility magazine. Maddox was a panel member on The Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine, which develops and disseminates evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to professionals and consumers. He is currently writing and producing books as a resource for the newly injured: SCI: First 90 Days. He has been a reporter for many magazines, including Time, Money and People. Maddox is a graduate of the University of Colorado, where he taught in the School of Journalism.


More Resources

  • Spinal Cord Stimulation - Moving Beyond Isolated Systems Symposium. Sam Maddox's overview of a recent major event. This three-day meeting was held last summer in Louisville, KY; it was the first-ever multi-disciplinary, multi-generational gathering of the international e-stim field, organized by Susan Harkema and David Magnuson of the University of Louisville. The symposium brought together scientists, clinicians, industry, funding groups and community advocates, never before under the same roof together. The organizers made it a priority to look at neuromodulation beyond motor changes – the emphasis was on whole body response.

For a solid background in the history and evolution of neuromodulation for spinal cord injury, here are three recent reviews from the medical literature:

Related CureCast interviews on Spinal Stimulation:

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