Spinal Cord Injury

The Neural Engineering Laboratory's Spinal Cord Injury Team is managing a two-year spinal cord injury epidural stimulation clinical trial designed to whether epidural stimulation can restore volitional movement below the injury sites of patients who have been paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. The team will implant two patients with epidural stimulators and treat them with a lengthy course of physical therapy.

The study is being conducted in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; the University of California, Los Angeles; and Reneu Health Inc.

  • Peter J. Grahn, Ph.D.
    • Engineer

    • Dr. Grahn's interest in spinal cord injury research began in 2005 after a swimming accident in northern Minnesota that resulted in quadriplegia. After his injury, Dr. Grahn earned bachelor's degrees in biology and chemistry from Southwest Minnesota State University and a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences, with a focus on the neurobiology of disease, from Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Grahn is focused on using electrical stimulation of the spinal cord to restore function lost due to spinal cord injury.

Clinical trial partners

  • Kristin D. Zhao, Ph.D.
    • Director, Assistive and Restorative Technology Laboratory

    • Dr. Zhao is a researcher in the Mayo Clinic Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the co-principal investigator with Dr. Lee on the epidural stimulation clinical trial, in which she oversees rehabilitation interventions and assessment of volitional movement for enrolled patients using kinematics, electromyography (EMG) and video methods.

  • Lisa A. Beck, APRN, CNS, M.S.
    • Nurse Specialist

    • Lisa Beck is a nurse specialist focusing on the inpatient and outpatient treatment of individuals with spinal cord injuries. She is a co-investigator on the epidural stimulation clinical trial led by Dr. Lee and Dr. Zhao and is involved in clinical assessment and stimulator programming for study participants.

  • Megan L. Gill, P.T., D.P.T, NCS
    • Lead Physical Therapist

    • Dr. Gill is the lead physical therapist of the Mayo Clinic Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation's Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program. She is an expert in rehab strategies and locomotor training and is a co-investigator on the epidural stimulation clinical trial led by Dr. Lee and Dr. Zhao. She leads the team of physical therapists and athletic trainers and oversees the rehabilitation phase of the trial.

  • Jeffrey A. Strommen, M.D.
    • Staff Consultant, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

    • Dr. Strommen is a physician in the Mayo Clinic Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He specializes in treating patients with spinal cord injuries and is a clinical EMG expert. He is a co-investigator on the epidural stimulation clinical trial led by Dr. Lee and Dr. Zhao, in which he conducts clinical assessments and EMG studies.

  • Meegan G. Van Straaten, P.T.
    • Physical Therapist

    • Megan Van Straaten is a physical therapist with experience in spinal cord injury research. She is a co-investigator on the epidural stimulation clinical trial led by Dr. Lee and Dr. Zhao and assists in the measurement of volitional movement in study patients using kinematics, EMG and video methods.