# Tailoring Neural Transplants for Cervical Spinal Cord Repair

> **NIH NIH F31** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $46,752

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Stem cell technologies offer new promise for some of the most devastating medical conditions that currently lack
treatments. To harness the full therapeutic potential of stem cells, however, it will be necessary to understand
how to direct their differentiation to appropriate cell phenotypes, understand how they may change with in vitro
manipulation, and how the external milieu may influence their fidelity after transplantation into injured or diseased
host networks. These gaps in knowledge are the cornerstones of my long-term training plan. My research goal
is to become an independent scientist pursuing translationally relevant research. To do so, I will build upon my
technical in vitro skills from undergraduate research, and now use a model of pre-clinical spinal cord injury as a
testbed for my hypotheses regarding the therapeutic potential of transplanted engineered cells. More than half
of all spinal cord injuries occur at the cervical level resulting in major respiratory deficits and complications. These
deficits are largely due to the disruption of descending bulbospinal respiratory pathways and damage to spinal
respiratory motor circuits. While current therapies are aimed at enhancing the plasticity of spared networks, they
fail to treat the underlying cause of deficits: neural loss. One promising strategy for neural repair is the use of
cellular transplants, yet very little is known about their phenotype, development, and connectivity to host
networks after transplantation. Importantly, even less is known about how these cells change with each
manipulation in vitro (e.g., addition of growth factors, how cryopreservation may change the phenotypic potential,
etc.). Neural precursor cells (NPCs) have been used for decades to repair the injured central nervous system.
However, these donor cell populations are highly heterogeneous, have not been well characterized and
preparation of these cells for transplantation may further alter their heterogeneity. A primary goal of the present
study is to address this issue and enhance their therapeutic potential by enriching for specific subsets of spinal
interneurons known to contribute to beneficial plasticity and repair. The current proposal will test the therapeutic
potential of refined populations of donor NPCs, enriched with pre-motor V0 spinal interneurons, to promote
anatomical (Aim 1) and functional (Aim 2) improvement post-SCI.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10537226
- **Project number:** 1F31NS125975-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Tara Fortino
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $46,752
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10537226

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10537226, Tailoring Neural Transplants for Cervical Spinal Cord Repair (1F31NS125975-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10537226. Licensed CC0.

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