James D. Guest, M.D., Ph.D.

Augmented Recovery after SCI; Application of Therapeutic Combinations in Preclinical Studies, and Early Phase Clinical Trials

The current focus of the Guest lab is on the transplantation of autologous glial cells to repair spinal cord injuries. We utilize several types of animal models with an emphasis on solving translational questions related to human clinical application. We also emphasize minimally-invasive surgical lesion-making and transplantation techniques. Sophisticated outcome assessment techniques are used to evaluate transplant effects in both the acute and chronic state of injury. These include kinematic assessment of hand function and gait, electrophysiologic study of conduction across lesion sites, and sensory testing. Other areas of research include studies of human post-mortem spinal cord tissue, intraoperative human spinal cord conduction studies, and research design for human clinical trials.