Jefferson Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute is pleased to announce that Dylan Edwards, PhD, is preparing to commence a new research study supported by a Health Research Grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Dr. Edwards is Director of the Institute and Director of the Human Motor Recovery Laboratory.

The novel translational research study will apply high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) with the goal of promoting recovery of the nervous system and motor function in people with tetraplegia after a cervical spinal cord injury. The HF-rTMS protocol developed by Dr. Edwards and his colleagues differs from previously investigated rTMS protocols that have been shown to transiently enhance intact pathways in spinal cord injury.

Based on promising results in animal models of spinal cord injury (PI: Jian Zhong, PhD), this new non-invasive approach under investigation has tremendous potential to promote lasting recovery after spinal cord injury. The present project will be the first time the dual-hemispheric HF-rTMS treatment protocol will be assessed in humans with spinal cord injury. Participants will be studied in the inpatient setting in the subacute phase of spinal cord injury, a period during which neural recovery is greatest. Through innovative translational research, our Institute Faculty are continuing to advance the field of neurorehabilitation and to develop new treatments to improve the lives of individuals with neurological disabilities.