World Leader in Spinal Cord Research and Treatment to Join Kennedy Krieger Institute; Dr. John McDonald Will Establish New Center for Spinal Cord Restoration

Business Wire, Oct 12, 2004

BALTIMORE -- One of the world's leading spinal cord researchers, Dr. John McDonald, will join the staff of Kennedy Krieger Institute to establish a program to serve patients with spinal cord injury and paralysis.

The physician who helped the late actor Christopher Reeve recover some sensation, movement and moments of independence from his ventilator, Dr. McDonald, will serve as director of the new Spinal Cord Research Center at Kennedy Krieger Institute.

The new Spinal Cord Research Center at Kennedy Krieger will aid patients with paralysis regain feeling and movement through innovative "activity-based restoration." Traditional spinal cord injury rehabilitation programs have focused on helping patients learn ways to compensate for disabilities thought to be irreversible. With activity-based restoration, therapists assume that patients may be able to actually recover function. The method relies on the principle that the nervous system requires patterned neural activity to maintain and generate spinal cord cells.

Kennedy Krieger is the world-renowned neuroscience institute for children and adolescents with disorders of the brain and spinal cord, both congenital and acquired. Dr. McDonald's work will complement current research and treatment programs at the Institute and greatly enhance the care of children in its rehabilitation programs.

Dr. McDonald received his combined M.D. and Ph.D. in neurosciences in 1992 from the University of Michigan. He completed research fellowship training at Kennedy Krieger Institute in 1993 and residency training at Washington University School of Medicine before joining the faculty there in 1996.

Kennedy Krieger Institute is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. Each year, more than 11,000 children are served through inpatient and day treatment programs, outpatient clinics, home and community services and school-based programs.