The People, Places & Things of 2012

Gold medals, stem cell research, and exoskeletons were all part of what made 2012 unique.

A year never really seems to move that fast until you’re at the end of it, and here we are in the final weeks of 2012 and looking back at the last 12 months.

A presidential election, the Olympics and Paralympics, Superstorm Sandy, and a slow economy were just a few things that caught everyone’s attention this year. Things were just as busy and eye-catching when it comes to news, events, and issues of importance to people with disabilities.

It’s impossible to cover everything, but these are a few of the top names, events, discoveries, and headlines of 2012. Many of them appeared in the pages of PN.

Taking Home Gold

The eyes of the world were on London late this summer as more than 4,200 athletes from more than 160 countries took part in the Paralympic Games.

Team USA hauled in 98 medals at the Games, including 31 gold. Several Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) members did their fair share to account for some of that total.

Former Marine Corps Special Forces member Oz Sanchez led the way for the veterans with a gold and bronze medal in cycling.

In athletics (track and field), National Veterans Wheelchair Games gold medalists Angela Madsen and Scot Severn each won a bronze medal in the shot put.

For more information, visit teamusa.org/US-Paralympics.

Revolutionary Clinical Trial

Stem cells continue to be a focal point in the effort to treat people with spinal-cord injuries, and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis is taking a big step in this ongoing effort.

This past summer, the project received permission from the Food and Drug Administration to begin a Phase I clinical trial to evaluate the safety of transplanting human Schwann cells. These are essential to sending appropriate electrical signals through the nervous system.

The clinical trial will enroll eight participants with acute thoracic SCI within five days of injury. It could be at least two to three years from the time the first subject is enrolled until the final subject is one year post-transplantation.

For more information, visit themiam iproject.org.

 

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