Top Clinicians and Researchers Conference to "Hurry History" on Paralysis Treatments, Therapies and Cure

Paralyzed Veterans' Summit 2011 brings together best and brightest in spinal cord injury medicine

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The best and the brightest minds in spinal cord injury medicine will convene this weekend for Paralyzed Veterans of America's Summit 2011. The renowned clinicians will cover topics such as tackling pain and progress in multiple sclerosis treatments, and discuss how close we are to breakthroughs in this vitally important—yet often overlooked—area of medicine and health care.

"Paralyzed Veterans' Summit 2011 is a venue for clinicians to 'hurry history.' We all come to this issue from different disciplines, yet we all want the same thing: better treatments, therapies and—sooner rather than later—a cure for paralysis," said Lana McKenzie, associate executive director of Medical Services and Health Policy for Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Expected to be highlights of the Summit are presentations by Professors Stephen Waxman and Jeffery Kocsis of Yale University. At the forefront of what has been called the "molecular revolution," Waxman and Kocsis have received international recognition for their research in spinal cord regeneration, neuropathic pain and understanding of MS—research that holds out the real possibility of a cure for some types of paralysis in the next decade.

Other highlights of this year's Summit program include:

• Opening Remarks — Friday, September 16, 7:45 a.m. – Bill Lawson, National President, Paralyzed Veterans of America; Homer Townsend, Executive Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America; and Gordon Mansfield, Chair, Summit 2011 Planning Committee, Former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
• Keynote Speaker — Friday, September 16, 8:00 a.m. – Robert L. Jesse, MD, PhD, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs
• Capitalizing on the Molecular Revolution: Targeting Sodium Channels for Neuroprotection and More Effective Treatments of Pain — Friday, September 16, 8:30 a.m. – Gordon Mansfield (moderator), Stephen G. Waxman, MD, PhD
• Health-Care Reform — Saturday, September 17, 8:00 a.m. – Gordon Mansfield (moderator); Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, Chief Medical Officer & Senior Vice President for Quality, Hospital Corporation of America
• Multiple Sclerosis: Thirty Years of Progress — Saturday, September 17 – Christopher Bever, MD, MBA (moderator); Dennis Bourdette, MD
• Technology to Promote Independence — Sunday, September 18 – Michael M. Priebe, MD (moderator), Rory A. Cooper, PhD

Paralyzed Veterans of America has a long track record of helping to change lives and build brighter futures for all people who live with spinal cord injury and related diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Since the founding of its Research and Education Foundations, and with help from its chapters, Paralyzed Veterans' has invested more than 100 million into research that promises new therapies, treatments, and potential cures for paralysis, as well as advancements in care and education of individuals with spinal cord injury or disease.

Summit 2011 and Expo – "Delivering Excellence, Achieving State-of-the-Art Health Care," offers attendees three days of focused discussion and opportunities to advance spinal cord medicine and health care. Summit attendees will have the opportunity to earn 20-plus continuing education units while hearing from renowned leaders from medicine, health care, policy and government.

Visit www.pva.org/summit2011 for more information on Summit 2011 and next year's Summit.

Sixty-five years ago Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded by a band of spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a grateful nation — but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. These veterans from the "Greatest Generation" made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created an organization dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities. And for more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans of America and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all veterans and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to thrive. (www.pva.org)

SOURCE Paralyzed Veterans of America