Active Research

Research Achievements

Among the projects supported by the Foundation, Foundation grantees demonstrated that the major cause of cerebral palsy in the premature newborn infant, periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), was due to injury to a developing brain cell responsible for myelinating the developing nerve cell (the preoligodendrocyte). The injury is due to either lack of oxygen (e.g. placental insufficiency) or to inflammation; more probability to both. The cellular and molecular basis for this injury critical to development is being explored and mechanisms for protecting the cell developed. Addressing the areas of brain injury in cerebral palsy, brain imaging evidence demonstrates that injury to the sensory tracts of the brain are an integral part of the cerebral palsy syndrome. Not only are the motor control areas of the brain injured, but also the sensory tracts which provide information to the motor control areas. In the study of methods to improve function, constraint induced movement therapy has drawn a lot of clinical attention as a method for increasing motor control. Studies are underway both to evaluate the efficacy of this therapy in restoring lost function in upper limbs and lower limbs, and also to study supposed changes in brain that are believed to occur from this type of clinical intervention.

ACTIVE RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS as of May 2007


Ethel Hausman Award: University of Cincinnati—Language Acquisition in Cerebral Palsy
Kennedy Kreiger Research Institute—Molecular mechanisms (neuronal pentaxin-1) of perinatal hypoxic ischemic injury and implications for Cerebral Palsy
UCLA University Hospital—Clinical Trial of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Georgetown University/ National Rehabilitation Hospital—Brain Reorganization following physical therapy
Teachers College, Columbia University: Improving hand function in children with hemiplegic CP
Goldenson-Arbus Award, Harvard Children's Hospital (Boston, MA)—Glutamate Receptors and Neural Protection in Periventricular Leukomalacia
University of Wisconsin-Madison- A prospective longitudinal study of 40 young children with CP. The investigator will assess language and cognition and MRI/CT in the children at 6 month intervals.
Columbia University—Basic study to determine if electrical stimulation of the silenced corticospinal system can rescue pyramidal tract neurons.
University of Virginia—Genetic correlates of CP severity
University of Alabama—Pain management and exercise in adults with CP.
Children's Research Institute (Children's National Medical Center)--rat model of intrauterine inflammation and preliminary data suggesting that activation of the Fas receptor may contribute to the apoptotic cell death of oligodendrocytes
Emory University-- A study of the effects of Cardiotrophin-1 (an inflammatory mediator) on neurons in rat model with neonatal stroke
Shriner's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia—Functional Neuromuscular stimulation coupled with botulinum toxin for improving motor function in CP
Michigan State University—Developing a Communication Classification System in Children with CP
Goldenson-Arbus Award, MIT--Harvard Spaulding Hospital Boston—Robotic rehabilitation for gait rehabilitation in children with CP.
Middle East Research Collaboration-Israel, Jordan, East Jerusalem: Physical Therapy in School Age Children with Cerebral Palsy
OTHER PROGRAMS:
Michigan State University: Workshop Support: Adults with Cerebral Palsy
Castang Foundation: Workshop Support: Measurements of Quality of Life in Cerebral Palsy
American Academy for CP & Developmental Medicine: Meeting Support