Yarmush Receives Two Grants from the New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Research

Professor Martin Yarmush was awarded 2 grants from the New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Research. The first is a 1-year $200,000 award to continue development of a method to treat spinal cord injury using encapsulated mesenchymal stromal cells that have been genetically modified to secrete enzymes that degrade proteoglycans to reduce glial scarring and suppress host inflammation. The second grant is a $200,000, 2-year award to develop a new technique for tracking galvanic skin responses (a form of electrodermal activity) in spinal cord injured patients which can be used to detect pressure ulcers at early stages before clinical manifestationProfessors Rene SchlossAnil Shrirao, and Suneel Kumar are co-PIs on both grants.