Local foundation joins spinal cord injury network

This article was written by Liu King-pong and published by the Taiwan Journal on September 21, 2007. It reports that the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation was recently invited to join the China Spinal Cord Injury Network to conduct experiments on the effectiveness of stem-cell therapy in treating patients with spinal problems.

The ChinaSCINet project, led by Wise Young from Rutgers University, is about to take the successful results in animal testing and move on to human subjects in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. The team has already proven that lithium and umbilical-cord blood can be helpful in reconnecting the neural systems of animals with spinal-cord injuries.

Young recently met Master Cheng Yen, founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation, and invited the organization to participate in the medical project that can help numerous patients with spinal injuries. “I have been impressed with the operations of the Tzu Chi Stem Cells Center and the Tzu Chi Bone Marrow Data Bank,” Young said. He also appreciated the contributions of two orthopedists at the Hualien Tzu Chi Medical Center in Taiwan who have found some success in treating patients with ankylosing spondylitis, an arthritis of the spine.

“I had invited Tzu Chi to participate in my project on behalf of the University of Hong Kong, when I served as a visiting professor at the school in June [2007]. It was my pleasure to meet with Master Cheng Yen and other officials from Tzu Chi hospitals to discus the details of our cooperation,” Young said.

ChinaSCINet, launched by the University of Hong Kong in 2004 with the financial support of its SCI Fund, will choose 400 participants in the Greater China region to participate in the study. Patients in Taiwan suffering from spinal damage will apply for treatment at the four major Tzu Chi hospitals, located in Hualien, Taipei, Taichung and Chiayi. After screening, 60 qualified candidates will receive treatment, along with 340 qualified patients from other international and local hospitals.

According to Young, the first round of experiments will try to determine the effectiveness of lithium and stem cells extracted from umbilical-cord blood when used separately. The methods will be combined and used on patients in the second stage of the program.

Each year, Young invites four neural researchers to Rutgers University to join him in his research. “I'd like to reserve two vacancies out of the quota for Tzu Chi doctors next year. I would personally sponsor one of the two candidates' expenses to show my respect for Master Cheng Yen and Tzu Chi,” Young said.

Young is the head of the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He is well known for serving as Christopher Reeve's attending physician when the actor was paralysed from the neck down after being thrown off a horse. Young was profiled by Time magazine in 2001 for its “America's Best Science and Medicine” special issue.

In the 1950s, spinal-cord injuries were viewed as permanent and irreversible. This outlook dominated the medical field for years. Young challenged the conventional thinking by starting to do research in 1980. He co-led a study in 1990 that showed when high doses of the steroid methylprednisolone are administered within eight hours of an injury, about 20 percent of a patient's bodily functions can be saved. According to Young, twenty percent may not seem significant, but it is enough functionality for a person to breathe unassisted instead of relying on a respirator and to walk rather than being confined to a wheelchair.