10/16/2026
Recently, I demolished my son’s wheelchair ramp and took it to the city dump. I didn’t tear it down because it’s no longer needed. Eighteen years after he sustained a C5 spinal cord injury, my son still uses a wheelchair. Instead, wear and weather were turning the ramp back into the dirt from which it came, and it was no longer safe. Throwing the pieces into the scrap pile, I couldn’t help but reflect.
Shortly after my son’s SCI, I committed myself to advancing research that could help him recover as much function as possible. It was work that I’d hoped would render his ramp obsolete or, at the very least, not essential. But here I am building a new one that is still quite essential.
When the editors at New Mobility asked me to write a broad update about the state of SCI research, I thought about all the advances that have been made since I built that first ramp, but at the same time, how far we are from a world where ramps are obsolete.
This newsletter will be about that exciting, ambiguous in-between. Before we get into the specifics, a few things to note: First, I don’t want to add any more hyperbole to what advances are “just around the corner” or, dare I say, “in five years.” Second, I’m writing about things that provide meaningful promise for people who have been living with spinal cord injuries, not just the newly injured. Third, I’m not going to name any companies or scientists. Our community is often asked to “pick a winner.” My loyalty is to restored function, not to who delivers it — because it always comes from a collective effort.
Link: https://newmobility.com/whats-new-in-sci-research/
