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The goals of my research are to help find therapeutic interventions that improve recovery, reduce secondary conditions, and create a better life for persons with SCI and other conditions that impair physical or cognitive function. Currently, I am working in the following areas:
1. Neuropathic pain: I have been collaborating with researchers from the University of Washington on pain studies for more than a decade to try to improve our medical management of pain. I conducted the first randomized clinical trial on the use of a tricyclic antidepressant, amitriptyline, for chronic pain in persons with SCI. In addition, our Seattle group surveyed hundreds of patients and found that while many treatments are tried for pain in SCI, few are helpful. Many persons seek alternative medicine treatments which lead us to study self-hypnosis. Since moving to Miami in 2006, I have begun to collaborate with Eva Widerstrom-Noga, DDS, PhD (see Faculty) on studies of the underlying changes that may occur in the brain in persons with pain and SCI using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.
2. Neurogenic bladder management: I am currently completing a study to determine if hydrophilic catheters reduce the incidence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in persons with SCI who manage their bladder with intermittent catheterization. This study has involved 16 centers from the US and Canada. Despite the improvements made in the area of bladder management, many persons with SCI still have problems with recurrent UTIs. Future studies are being planned.
3. I am also collaborating on a study being conducted by Dr. Edelle Field-Fote on hand and arm function in persons with tetraplegia. The interventions include massed practice activities along with somatosensory stimulation, somtosensory stimulation alone, or conventional resistance training. (See Dr. Edelle Field-Fote for a description of the research conducted by her and her team.)
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