Pentagon awards funds to spinal cord injury research
The United States Department of Defense awarded a $2 million grant to help further research that will help people living with spinal cord injuries, MethodistHospital officials in Houston announced this week.
The grant will support the expansion of translational research to find treatments for individuals living with spinal cord injury, including servicemen and women. Its a type of research that uses basic science to create practical applications that can be used in the real world. i.e. drug studies.
Specifically, the grant will help fund the second and third phase of clinical trials for Riluzole, a neuroprotective drug that is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved drug used in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Laboratory studies have shown it to be effective in limiting traumatic damage to the spinal cord.
The two-year, peer-reviewed grant was awarded the North American Clinical Trials Network or NACTN.
More at http://blog.chron.com/healthzone/2013/05/pentagon-awards-funds-to-spinal-cord-injury-research/ .