From SCI to SCI Researcher

We caught up with Dr Alina Garbuzov, a post-doctoral researcher at University California San Diego, to find out how sustaining a spinal cord injury (SCI) concentrated her focus, the potential of stem cells in research and obstacles to translational treatments.

Did you always want to be a scientist?

I had an amazing Biology teacher in high school that sparked my interest in science. I am a very curious person and love to be on the forefront of unanswered questions – I love to find out how things work.

I went on to study Biology at college and then undertook a Ph.D. researching ageing and stem cells. Four years into my Ph.D. studies everything started to fall into place.

Could you tell us about your injury and how that affected your work?

In 2015 I sustained a spinal cord injury after a climbing accident in Yosemite Park, which turned my world upside down.

There are definitely things I can’t do as easily as before, but my professor was great. He hired an undergrad to assist me and was very supportive and I was able to finish my Ph.D.

However, I made a really key change: I decided to work on something closer to my heart. I came across Mark Tuszynski‘s lab, where he combined stem cell research with SCI research. It was really a perfect fit.

Can you tell us simply about your area of research?

My lab focuses on the corticospinal tract (CST), a specific nerve pathway in the spinal cord which is essential for movement. Unfortunately, the CST is very poor at regeneration after injury, so we are researching methods to counteract that.

We are specifically investigating the use of stem cells to function as a bridge across the injury site to restore movement.

What are some of the obstacles to developing treatments?

While researchers have succeeded with mice many times, research going from the mouse model to a clinical trial often fails.

This is because the biology and the size of the spinal cord, and the way the CST promotes walking in animals is different.

Due to the huge amount of energy and funding required for a clinical trial, if it fails then it might be written off when in reality the treatment just needed some refinement. This is why further research is needed before we progress.