Rotary hosts event to aid promising new spinal cord research

Sep 09, 2003

The Kiama Rotary Club hosted a garden party at historic Hartwell House, Kiama, on Saturday 6 September to support the pioneering research of the University of Wollongong's Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) and the Bionic Ear Institute.

The two research organisations have entered a partnership aimed at using "intelligent" polymers (plastics) from IPRI that will not only improve cochlear ear implants but also facilitate nerve repair for those who have suffered spinal cord injury.

The inventor of the bionic ear, Professor Graeme Clark, and the Director of IPRI, Professor Gordon Wallace, were guests at the garden party and they gave presentations about their respective work.

Since the first bionic ear was implanted in 1978, about 50,000 people in 120 countries have had their hearing restored to some degree.

And now the researchers are turning their attention to restoring motor function for people with paraplegia and quadriplegia.

The plan is to place a honeycomb of intelligent plastic between the cut sections of the spinal cord and the honeycomb will then be filled by adult stem cells taken from the patient. The aim is to control the growth of the nerves from the top to the bottom to restore the motor nerves.

The President of the Kiama Rotary Club, David Smark, said the event offered visitors a rare opportunity to view historic Hartwell House and simultaneously see Professor Wallace and Professor Clark showcase their ground-breaking achievements.