Improving cardiovascular outcomes for spinal cord patients

Many people don’t realize that the main complaint of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) is the impact on their cardiovascular system, not the loss of mobility. SCI impacts the body’s ability to maintain blood pressure and flow, often resulting in symptoms like dizziness, nausea and even fainting. In addition to the life-altering symptoms, cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in this population. 

The Libin Cardiovascular Institute is tackling this issue through its involvement with the RESTORE (REsearching STrategies fOr Rehabilitation) Network, a research collaboration at the University of Calgary connecting brain and cardiovascular researchers.The network combines resources at UCalgary and Alberta Health Services and brings a highly specialized group of academic and clinical experts together to provide novel therapies, conduct clinical trials, and design technologies for people with SCI, stroke and movement impairments. 

Spinal cord injury research

Libin researcher Dr. Aaron Phillips, PhD, directs RESTORE. His research program, at intersection of SCI and cardiovascular disease, has been internationally recognized for its potential to drastically improve the quality of life for those living with SCI. 

Phillips joined the Libin team in 2017, setting up a research lab. The following year, he and his colleagues published an important finding: a patient with severe spinal cord injury showed significant improvement in his ability to maintain blood pressure after electrical stimulation of his spinal cord. It was an important finding because poor blood pressure control is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, impairs neurological recovery, reduces quality of life for SCI patients and threatens survival. 

Phillips and his team developed a system that delivers electrical stimulation through an implanted device that helps regulate blood pressure. The work was published in the prestigious journal, Nature. 

Phillips has also been recognized closer to home. He has received accolades, such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation McDonald Scholarship, an award given to the country's top-rated new investigator. He is also the 2023 recipient of the $1-million Hopewell M.I.N.D. Prize as well as the 2021 Arthur C. Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology and Medicine.

Student Success

Phillips’ students have also achieved great things. Doctoral student Julien Rimok was a 2023 recipient of a prestigious Vanier Scholarship for his work with the autonomic nervous system following a SCI. 

The body has numerous reflex mechanisms (pathways) that communicate what is occurring internally so the body can respond appropriately. Generally, these pathways remain intact after a spinal cord injury, but the messages aren’t delivered properly to the target tissues. In other words, the body can sense a problem, but can’t act on it effectively. 

Rimok’s work focuses on harnessing these intact pathways using tiny devices implanted in the brain that bridge the communication gap between the brain and the body. He was chosen as one of 56 Canadians to receive a prestigious Vanier Scholarship, which awards academic excellence, research potential and leadership, to support his work at the intersection of neuroscience and engineering. 

“It’s a very exciting field that is changing rapidly,” says Rimok of his chosen field. “I think that the translation of brain patterns to something meaningful with technology is the coolest thing, and it can be used in so many ways to help people.” 

Future Direction

RESTORE is making the future brighter for patients with neurological disorders. As technology and knowledge continue to advance, Phillips believes there will be more discoveries ultimately leading to better patient outcomes. 

“Over the next five years our vision is to develop a fully operational engineering space for next-generation technology to be ideated, fabricated, validated, and finally disseminated, so that our clinical community can benefit from our new discoveries,” says Phillips.

Read more about the Libin Cardiovascular Institute's Top 20 Achievements of the last 20 years here.