PM&R researchers Dr. Yuying Chen, Dr. Rachel Cowan, Dr. Jenn Coker, and Jenny Marwitz.The UAB Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation has been awarded two distinct 5-year grants totaling $7.2 million from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) to continue its work as a Spinal Cord Injury Model System (SCIMS) center and the Data and Statistical Center for SCIMS, known as the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC).
The Spinal Cord Injury Model System is a national network of 14 current centers that provide comprehensive rehabilitation care, conduct collaborative research, and share knowledge with clinicians, researchers, and people living with SCI. Established in 1970, UAB joined SCIMS in 1972 and has remained continuously funded for more than 50 years.
UAB has also served as the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center since 1983. NSCISC manages the SCIMS Database, the world's largest active longitudinal registry of SCI data, containing more than 50 years of information from over 55,000 participants nationwide.
“The UAB NSCISC team is honored to continue more than 40 years of service to the SCIMS community as its Data and Statistical Center,” says Director of NSCISC and PM&R Vice Chair of Research Yuying Chen, M.D., Ph.D. “For 55 years, the SCIMS Database has been the nation's leading resource for traumatic spinal cord injury trends and outcomes, guiding prevention efforts, healthcare planning, and research priorities. Findings from this research have driven significant advances in rehabilitation and quality of life for people with spinal cord injury.”
As a SCIMS center, UAB researchers conduct a site-specific study and module project each grant cycle while collaborating with other SCIMS centers and contributing data to the national database. Together, these efforts help advance long-term outcomes and identify strategies to improve the health and quality of life of people with SCI.
Director of UAB-SCIMS Rachel Cowan, Ph.D., will lead the UAB-SCIMS team through the grant cycle, combining 20 years of professional experience with her lived experience as a person with SCI.
“Every finding we generate has the potential to change what happens in a clinic, a home, or a community for someone living with SCI,” says Cowan. “I've seen that from both sides, as a researcher and as a person with a spinal cord injury. With these renewed awards, we can keep asking the questions that matter most to our community and make sure the answers reach the people who need them.”
A key strength of SCIMS is the connection between research and clinical care. At UAB, investigators work closely with clinicians across Spain Rehabilitation Center to identify emerging needs, share findings, and apply evidence-based strategies that improve patient care and outcomes.
"Twenty-nine years ago, I began my career as a SCIMS data collector," says Jenn Coker, Ph.D., MPH, co-director of NSCISC and UAB-SCIMS. "To now serve as co-project director of both competitively renewed awards is deeply meaningful. These awards give us the opportunity to continue collecting the data and conducting the research that impacts the lives and care of people with SCI."
The renewed awards will support UAB's continued contributions to SCI research and rehabilitation while strengthening collaborations across the national SCI Model System network for the next five years. For more information about NSCISC and UAB-SCIMS, visit uab.edu/nscisc and uab.edu/sci.