Last week, we were proud to host SpinalCure Australia’s second Cure Summit, made possible through funding from NSW Health and the generosity of Evans & Partners.
Over two days in Sydney, leading researchers funded by SpinalCure Australia and others across the spinal cord injury (SCI) sector came together to share transformative research and clinical advances in SCI treatment, rehabilitation and recovery. The Summit created a dedicated space to foster collaboration, share progress and address key challenges facing the field.
The depth of knowledge, dedication and passion in the room was energising. Researchers who work every day on science that will one day change lives connected, exchanged ideas and pushed each other’s thinking forward.
For decades, spinal cord injury has been considered permanent. Today, growing evidence across multiple research streams is reshaping what is possible and strengthening optimism for the future.
Advancing research across multiple fronts
Across the two days, experts from Australia and New Zealand explored emerging opportunities to improve outcomes for people living with SCI. Sessions included advances in neurostimulation techniques, the application of multiomics to better understand the complex cellular changes immediately after injury, and experiments aimed at encouraging regrowth in mammalian neurons. Discussions also highlighted new and emerging therapies designed to improve outcomes for people with both recent and long-term spinal cord injuries.
The Summit also examined how to capitalise on global technological innovation to accelerate clinical translation and rehabilitation, and identified research areas with the strongest potential to deliver meaningful progress toward a cure.
Lived experience and accelerating translation
“One of the greatest challenges is how we ensure that Australians who suffer a spinal cord injury benefit from the scientific and research advances which are changing the treatment paradigm and bringing us closer to cure,” said Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, who led a session on accelerating the translation of research into clinical care.
“There is a critical time period following injury to minimise the cascade of damage, and we must also ensure those living with chronic spinal cord injury benefit from emerging therapies.”
Dr Palipana, a SpinalCure Australia Board Member and emergency physician who lives with quadriplegia following a car accident, emphasised the importance of timely access to evolving treatments within hospitals and rehabilitation settings.
Building a national roadmap toward a cure
The Cure Summit is an initiative within SpinalCure Australia’s inaugural National Roadmap Toward a Cure for Spinal Cord Injury, which is being developed in collaboration with stakeholders across the country and will be released later this year.
The Roadmap identifies critical actions required to accelerate progress toward a cure and ensure life-improving advances reach people living with spinal cord injury as quickly as possible.
As SpinalCure Australia CEO Kathryn Borkovic noted, “We have a comprehensive plan and brilliant scientific minds propelling us forward. Now we urgently need investment to help us reach the finish line.”
Collaboration at the heart of progress
We are deeply grateful to every researcher who contributed their time and expertise, and to the advocates and lived-experience leaders who continue to drive this movement forward.
A special thank you to Evans & Partners for generously hosting the Summit in their boardroom, and to NSW Health for their ongoing support of this critical work.
We also warmly acknowledge Meg Spiers and Carole French from CatWalk, along with Professor Darren Svirskis from the University of Auckland, for making the trip to Sydney and contributing to valuable in-person collaboration and shared momentum.
Together, these efforts reflect a growing global commitment to transforming outcomes for people living with spinal cord injury.