By Michelle Taylor
Last month, David Sharp and his fellow colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y., received a $1.2 million grant from New York State to advance their promising technology for treating paralysis and other effects of spinal cord injuries (SCI).
The grant is one of nine totaling $5.7 million announced by N.Y. Governor Andrew Cuomo. The funding will be administered by the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research program, and represents the first round of competitive awards since funding was re-instated for the program in 2013.
Sharp recently spoke with Laboratory Equipment’s Editor-in-Chief Michelle Taylor about what the funding means to him and how he intends to use it to further his promising research.
Michelle Taylor: What does receiving this grant from New York State mean to you?
David Sharp: Firstly, this is a multi-disciplinary, multi-PI award, so this grant gives me the opportunity to work with two fantastic project co-directors, Sylvia Suadicani and Kelvin Davies, both in the department of Urology here at Einstein. We all bring something very different to the table with complementary expertise in neuronal cell biology, bladder, bowel and sexual function, but share a passion for reducing the suffering associated with spinal cord injury (SCI).