Marquette University assistant professor of physical therapy Kristi Streeter has received a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Streeter and her team will use the NIH funding for research to improve independent breathing function after a cervical spinal cord injury. Paralysis of the diaphragm and other breathing impairments are the primary causes of illness and death following a cervical spinal cord injury, according to a Marquette University news release.
“At the moment, there are limited treatment options to improve breathing and manage respiratory disfunction in patients with cervical spinal cord injury that go beyond mechanical ventilation,” Streeter said.
Electrical stimulation of the diaphragm is an emerging way to manage breathing impairments that “shows promise in restoring independent breathing,” Streeter said.
“Collectively, our preliminary data and literature reports have led to the fundamental hypothesis that diaphragm sensory neurons are a novel therapeutic target to restore respiratory neural function and improve breathing following cervical spinal cord injury,” Streeter said.
William Cullinan, dean of Marquette’s College of Health Sciences, said the NIH’s funding commitment indicates the potential of Streeter’s research.
“Breathing impairment after cervical spinal cord injury is a problem with limited treatment options and no cure,” Cullinan said. “This research has the potential to identify a novel target to improve breathing following cervical spinal cord injury and lead to a paradigm shift in the management of breathing insufficiency.”
