Brian Kwon

Canada Research Chair in Spinal Cord Injury

Tier 1 - 2017-11-01
Renewed: 2018-04-01, 2022-10-01
The University of British Columbia
Canadian Institutes of Health Research

604-875-5857
brian.kwon@ubc.ca

Research involves

Using everything from laboratory experiments to human trials to improve understanding of spinal cord injury and to establish new therapies to reverse paralysis.

Research relevance

This research aims to develop effective treatments to improve spinal cord function in people who are paralyzed after suffering an acute spinal cord injury.

Research summary

Every year, several thousand people in Canada suffer spinal cord injuries, with outcomes that range from partial to total paralysis. Although medical advances have improved the quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries and extended their life spans, effective treatments to reverse their paralysis remain elusive. As Canada Research Chair in Spinal Cord Injury, Dr. Brian Kwon is working to develop effective treatments that can improve spinal cord function in patients with these injuries.

He and his research team are studying patients’ biologic and physiologic responses to spinal cord injury and developing interventions to improve their spinal cord function. They are emphasizing approaches that could be put to work quickly and could accelerate the pace at which effective treatments are brought forward and trialled in patients who have suffered spinal cord injuries.