Today our guest is Dan Hellenbrand, a renaissance man of sorts. Dan sustained a cervical injury (C5-6) as a carpenter back in 2003 and ended up going back to school to become a SCI researcher, as well as an advocate for curative therapies. We have an interesting conversation about early physical therapy, the role of belief and competition with yourself and how that aids recovery. We also discuss Dan’s research and interest in mitigating early damage at the injury site, acute versus chronic injury strategies, the Wisconsin bill to fund SCI research, and what sustains advocacy passion in the lon ..read more

Today's conversation is a rebroadcast of our interview with Samuel Stupp back in 2022. We thought it was a good time to revisit this conversation, given Dr. Stupp’s most recent publication, which you can learn more about below in the summary review done by U2FP’s science writer, Sam Maddox. More info and research links here: https://u2fp.org/get-educated/curecast/episode-76.html As always, please share your thoughts with us via email at curecast@u2fp.org. Thanks for listening ..read more

Today’s episode revisits important elements and loose ends of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) that didn’t fit neatly into the arc of our first three conversations on this topic. We’re calling this installment the ‘Junk Drawer’ - not because we consider these loose ends to be junk, but because they represent the multi-directional potential of stimulation’s promise that are on the horizon. This includes strategies we haven't fully broached such as combination therapies and clinical trials that are in the works - including one that U2FP helped design and coordinated funding for - as well as well as ..read more

Today we talk with Bill Murphy, a bioengineer out of the University of Wisconsin Madison. We recently met Dr. Murphy when he came to the Wisconsin Capitol in support of our $3M SCI Research Grant bill back in January. Bill’s team has been working on developing biomaterials to improve the body’s ability to receive and utilize Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC). ChABC is an enzyme that holds lots of promise for jump starting axon regeneration, a key element for repairing the damaged spinal cord. But ChABC is notoriously unstable, having a short shelf life once it’s formulated as well as degrading quickl ..read more

This is the third and final (for now) installment of our 101 tour of spinal stimulation. We're joined again by Sam Maddox, U2FP's Scientific Advisory Board Director and veteran science journalist. Today, we discuss the commercialization of spinal stim, detailing the path that these therapies will need to traverse to arrive at the market. We talk about how labs and businesses are organized and review some of the challenges they face, including obtaining FDA approval, getting funded, and organizing clinical trials and recruiting participants. Even after those hurdles are cleared and a therapy is ..read more

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 ..read more

Jason and Matthew talk with U2FP Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Director and Science Writer, Sam Maddox in the first part of our series on Spinal Stimulation. We’ve been thinking about the need for a discussion on what spinal stimulation is, why it's been studied so extensively, who are the influential scientists and players in the space, the trajectory of where and how it started as an exploration for restoring function in SCI, and - most importantly - what this all means for folks with a spinal cord injury. This conversation is part one of a series that kicks off with some history, backgrou ..read more

Jason and Matthew interview Jim Harris, a wilderness photographer who was injured in 2014. Jim was recently featured in Outside Magazine regarding his experience with psilocybin and its connection to some restored mobility. This conversation is a follow-up to our previous podcast with Dr. Jessica Nielson on the potential use of psilocybin after SCI. However, in this episode, we specifically focus on one of our community member's direct experience with exploring the use of psychedelics and his advocacy to decriminalize their use in Colorado. Guest Bio Before sustaining a spine injury at the end ..read more

The research of psychedelics as a therapeutic for anxiety, depression, and PTSD has gained a lot of traction over the last decade. Given their potent effects on the nervous system, what are the unique benefits and possible side effects of psychedelics for the SCI population? And further, what is their potential to elicit functional recovery? If you ask the community, it doesn’t take long to find anecdotal evidence that the benefits go beyond just the psychological realm. Read Jim Harris’ account in Outside Magazine, as an example (https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-sur ..read more

Jason and Matthew talk with Lucia Webb, U2FP’s Operations Director. We focus on a seemingly minor aspect of our work - our racing and fundraising initiative, Team U2FP - and breakdown why it’s critical for so much of what we do, especially the legislative bills we’ve passed through our Cure Advocacy Network. We talk about the impact of Team U2FP for everyone - not just marathon racers and wheelers - as well as opportunities to become involved in and support our work ..read more