West Orange, NJ. April 25, 2012. American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) has awarded its 2012 Apple Award to the article by Mark Nash, PhD, et al, entitled, "Safety, tolerance, and efficacy of extended-release niacin monotherapy for treating dyslipidemia risks in persons with chronic tetraplegia: a randomized multicenter controlled trial." The article, (doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2010.06.029) which was published in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in March 2011, is based on a study conducted in spinal cord injury (SCI) research centers in Florida, New York, New Jersey and California. The study was supported by a SCI Collaborative Research Project (grant no. H133A111105) from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and Kos Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Nash accepted the award at the annual ASIA meeting on behalf of the authors. Drs. Nash, John Lewis, and Armando J. Mendez are affiliated with the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida. Their co-authors are Trevor A. Dyson-Hudson, MD, of Kessler Foundation, West Orange, NJ, Yaga Szlachcic, MD, and Florence Yee, PharmD of Rancho Los Amigos National Research Center, Downey, CA, and Ann M. Spungen, EdD, and William A. Bauman, MD, of the James Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Dr. Dyson-Hudson acknowledged the many challenges to carrying out a multi-center clinical trial. "However," he commented, "results from rigorously controlled collaborative studies like this one provide the necessary evidence to support the usage of interventions in persons with SCI and provide the foundation for clinical guidelines in this population."
The Apple Award is named for David Apple, Jr., MD, medical director emeritus of Shepherd Center and a well known SCI researcher. The Apple Award acknowledges excellence in publishing in SCI rehabilitation research. This annual prize is given at the ASIA meeting,. The award for the best published paper by a clinician or researcher in the preceding calendar year is now in its sixth year. The award is sponsored by ASIA, Shepherd Center, and Thomas Land Publishers, Inc.
About the SCI Model System
The Spinal Cord Injury Model System program, sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, US Dept of Education, provides assistance to establish innovative projects for the delivery , demonstration, and evaluation of comprehensive medical, vocational, and other rehabilitation services to meet the needs of individuals with spinal cord injury. Model system centers across the United States work together to demonstrate improved care, maintain a national database, participate in independent and collaborative research and provide continuing education relating to spinal cord injury.
About Kessler Foundation
Trevor Dyson-Hudson, MD, is interim director of Spinal Cord Injury Research at Kessler Foundation. He is also co-director of the Northern New Jersey SCI Model System, one of 14 NIDRR- funded regional systems in the U.S. Kessler Foundation is one of six centers in the US with model systems for both spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury (Northern New Jersey TBI System).
Kessler Foundation, the largest public charity in the field of disability, conducts rehabilitation research in mobility and cognition that advances the care of people with multiple sclerosis, brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury. Kessler Foundation is one of six centers in the U.S. to have NIDRR-funded model systems for traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. Kessler Foundation Program Center fosters new approaches to the persistently high rates of unemployment among people disabled by injury or disease. Targeted grant making funds promising programs across the nation. Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, people recovering from catastrophic injuries and stroke, and young adults striving for independence are among the thousands of people finding jobs and training for careers as a result of the commitment of Kessler Foundation.
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Contact: Carolann Murphy, PA; 973.324.8382; CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org
Lauren Scrivo; 973-324-8384; Lscrivo@KesslerFoundation.org