#304 A Paraplegic Harvard Scientist's Neuronal Regeneration Quest While Living in a Non-Accessible World, even in the Ivy League

A Paraplegic Harvard Scientist's Neuronal Regeneration Quest While Living in a Non-Accessible  World, even in the Ivy League

Louise sits down with Jason Biundo, a PhD student at Harvard Medical School whose life and career were profoundly shaped by a severe spinal cord injury. In 2019, while studying neuroscience as an undergraduate, Jason survived a devastating rock climbing fall from the wall that left him paralyzed below the waist. He shares the surreal experience of understanding the exact neurological science of his trauma while lying in a hospital bed, and how that realization fueled his pivot toward studying neuronal regeneration. Jason offers an inside look at his groundbreaking research on scar modulation and how fibroblasts communicate with immune cells to repair early nervous system injuries. The conversation also tackles the hidden, exhausting realities of living as a paraplegic in spaces not built for wheelchairs, including the historic and often inaccessible campuses of the Ivy League. Jason opens up about the emotional toll of constant advocacy, the disconnect between the slow pace of academic research and the urgent needs of the spinal cord injury community, and how his lived experience makes him a uniquely powerful force in the lab and for accessibility awareness and change.

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You can learn more about Jason's work at the Stevens Lab here: https://www.stevenslab.org/jason-b

 

#BeginAgain #HopeforEverything

 

 

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A non-profit which is an essential national resource for Spinal Cord Injury, originating the first SCI Navigator Program in the country for newly injured SCI Families by SCI Families as an essential national resource for Spinal Cord Injured families in the first days, weeks and months of SCI crisis when life turns upside down and few medical teams in the US have SCI expertise or lived experience. They bring essential support, connections, life expertise and resources. BLINK of an Eye non profit deploys a rapid response HEAL Team for ICU bedside support to create an Extraordinary Experience despite the devastation for SCI families and a personal SCI Navigator for 24/7 support in the first 90 days and throughout the Miracle Year. BLINK of an Eye non profit also provides a Multidisciplinary Wrap Around Team and SCI Expert Medical Panel.  Stay tuned for their launch of a National Digital Resource Library, the SCI PLAYBOOK, chocked full of essential SCI information and trauma informed responses for the first hours, days and months after injury. To find out more, get involved, or make a donation, visit www.BLINKofaneye.org.

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