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Current Medical Student Summer Research Fellows

·	Current Medical Student Research Fellows

Caroline Tougas Institution: University of Ottawa Current repair strategies for spinal cord injury (SCI) cannot completely restore function in the adult mammal. We hypothesize that this is due to incomplete regeneration of all the motor tracts essential for recovery of coordinated locomotor function. Our objective is to promote functional recoveries by targeting these tracts, notably the raphespinal, vestibulospinal, rubrospinal, and corticospinal tracts. Our research strategy is to design and implant novel hollow fiber channels (HFC), each containing a biodegradable tissue engineered scaffold to guide regeneration and micro- or nano-particles for localized, continuous delivery of specific neurotrophic factors and enzymes for each specific motor tract, thereby creating the appropriate local environment to facilitate regeneration of that tract. All channels will also incorporate chondroitinase ABC to allow reentry of the regenerating axons into the distal spinal cord. These multiple tract-specific channels hold promise as a therapeutic strategy to treat patients devastated by SCI.