Increasingly, advances in spinal cord injury (SCI) research are finding their way into clinical practice. Many of these experimental therapies are currently undergoing clinical trials or are preparing to enter the clinical trial phase of their development. However, a number of experimental therapies, such as cellular transplants, are being introduced into clinical practice without a valid clinical trial program being completed, leaving their safety and efficacy untested. This is a great concern to researchers, clinicians, and most importantly people with SCI.

For people with SCI, their families, friends and caregivers, the decision to receive an experimental treatment or enter a clinical trial is a challenging one. In order to establish a set of guidelines for the design and conduct of valid clinical trials for SCI, an expert panel of researchers and doctors with extensive scientific and clinical experience in SCI was formed in 2004. The panel, supported through the ICCP (International Campaign for Cures for spinal cord injury Paralysis), developed a set of 4 papers outlining the guidelines for the conduct of SCI clinical trials, which were published in the Nature journal, Spinal Cord (see below). In addition to these peer-reviewed publications, the panel summarized these guidelines in an easy-to-read booklet.

To download important information for consideration, visit the ICORD website by clicking here.