Spinal Cord Injury (SCI): For Patients and Consumers

General Information About Spinal Cord Injury

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Spinal Cord Injury. Go to: http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/ToolsTemplates/EntertainmentEd/Tips/SpinalCordInjury.html
• MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine: Spinal Cord Injuries. See: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spinalcordinjuries.html
• National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA): Introduction to Spinal Cord Injury. Visit: http://www.spinalcord.org/resource-center/askus/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=56
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): Spinal Cord Injury. Go to: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/sci/detail_sci.htm

Organizations, Support, and Services

• The Foundation for Spinal Cord Injury Prevention, Care, and Cure is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to the prevention, care, and cure of spinal cord injuries through public awareness, education and funding research. See its long list of resources at: http://www.fscip.org/organization.htm#prevent
• The CDC is a federal government center that has the very broad goal of creating expertise, information, and tools that people can use to protect their health. See: http://www.cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainInjury/scifacts.html
• NSCIA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life of all people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) or related disorders. Visit: http://www.spinalcord.org/resource-center/askus/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=56
• NINDS, an NIH Institute, works through its programs and grantmaking to reduce the burden of neurological pathology throughout society. Go to: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/sci/detail_sci.htm
• The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, http://www.christopherreeve.org, is dedicated to curing SCI by funding innovative research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis by providing grants, information, and advocacy.
• The National Rehabilitation Information Center, http://www.naric.com, provides an online gateway to information on disability and rehabilitation. This center is a repository of data from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
• The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis/Buoniconti Fund, http://www.themiamiproject.org, is a nonprofit organization established in 1985 by a Miami doctor and National Football League Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti, whose son sustained SCI in a college football game. The Project promotes SCI research.
• Paralyzed Veterans of America, http://www.pva.org, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving veterans of the U.S. armed services, supporting medical research, and guaranteeing civil rights for all people with disabilities.
• The Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, http://www.queri.research.va.gov/sci/default.cfm, a project of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, concentrates on promoting improvement in the areas of respiratory health, pressure ulcers, obesity, pain, depression, and physical function and mobility.
• The Department of Defense's Spinal Cord Injury Research Program, http://cdmrp.army.mil/scirp/default.shtml, focuses on "finding and funding the best research."
• The Spinal Cord Society, http://scsus.org, is a nonprofit organization that funds research on SCI and disseminates information on this problem.
• The Spinal Cord Outcomes Partnership Endeavor (SCOPE), http://scope-sci.org/index.htm, seeks enhance the development of clinical trial and clinical practice protocols for accurately validating therapeutic interventions for SCIs.
• The Clearinghouse on Disability Information of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/codi.html, is part of the U.S. Department of Education and shares information about SCI research, breakthroughs, and issues.
• The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/nidrr, is one of three entities within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education. NIDRR supports the NIDDR Spinal Cord Injuries Model Systems Program, http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sci/index.html, as well as model systems for brain injury and burns.
• The Pentagon's Defense Medical Research and Development Program, http://dmrdp.fhpr.osd.mil/home.aspx, performs research and development in the areas of blast injury, rehabilitation, and psychological health and wellness.
• The Neuro-Cognitive Rehabilitation Research Network, http://www.ncrrn.org, is a joint effort of experts at the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute and the University of Pennsylvania to help other scientists pursue research on cognitive rehabilitation.
• The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA), http://www.asia-spinalinjury.org/, promotes the care of patients with SCIs and supports interaction amongst health care professionals and researchers studying and treating SCIs.

Please note: Links to organizations and information included on this page do not indicate endorsement from the NICHD, NIH, or HHS.