#296 Macrophages and the Battle for SCI Repair with Dr. John Gensel

Macrophages and the Battle for SCI Repair with Dr. John Gensel

What happens when the cells sent to heal the body after a bodily trauma decide to stick around, becoming a permanent roadblock to recovery, as they do in acute SCI? Is it possible to reprogram the immune system to stop standing guard over the damage and instead open the pathway for repair?

Louise sits down with Dr. John Gensel, a neuroscientist and the Director of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center at the University of Kentucky. John has dedicated his career to the microscopic world of macrophages—the body's internal healing cells—and the mystery of why they behave so differently in the spinal cord than anywhere else in the human body. He shares how his lab is working to flip the switch on chronic inflammation, looking for ways to turn a person's own biology from a roadblock back into a healing and repair agent, and an ally to recent NVG-291 breakthroughs. Stay tuned as they explore the cellular frontier of SCI science and what it means for the future of personalized recovery.

#BeginAgain #HopeforEverything

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Resources

John Gensel: https://medicine.uky.edu/users/jcge224

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