The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Physical Medicine &
Rehabilitation (PM&R) held a special event to recognize Michael Neville and Vicky Ott. The two have been participating in the UAB Spinal Cord Injury Model System (SCIMS) research project for 50 years.
The SCIMS was established in 1970 as a prospective longitudinal multicenter study on demographics and the use of services by people with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) in the United States. UAB was one of seven SCIMS that first began enrolling participants in 1974.
Neville was among those enrolled in 1974 after a motorcycle accident that resulted in spinal cord injury. He explains why he has participated in research over the last 5 decades. “Early on, it was a little difficult row to home. And by doing this, I think gives someone some insight into what I’ve gone through.” says Neville.
Ott was also enrolled within the first year. Her spinal cord injury was the result of an accidental gunshot. “UAB saved my life,” recalls Ott. “Getting me into surgery to stabilize me so that I could start rehabbing. It was tough because they would make you get out of bed and go to physical therapy even when you didn’t want to. And you didn’t think it was going to help. But it makes a world of difference.”
Ott and Neville have now been interviewed every 5 years since their injuries. In that 50-year span, their data, along with data collected by all the SCIMS, has been used for wide-ranging research that has produced evidence-based rehabilitation interventions and clinical practice guidelines used to improve outcomes of persons with SCI.
“One thing, I think, that is particularly interesting is that UAB is currently the only SCI Model System with a project director and co-director who both have spinal cord injuries,” says Rachel Cowan, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of PM&R and project director for the UAB SCIMS. “So the people who are leading it have probably directly or indirectly benefited from the program.”
Cowan is referring to UAB SCIMS project co-director, Jereme Wilroy, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of PM&R. Together, Cowan and Wilroy lead the UAB SCIMS, which is currently one of eighteen SCIMS funded through 2026 and stands as the oldest and only SCIMS continuously funded since the program’s inception.
Pictured in the photo from left to right: Rachel Cowan, Ph.D., project director for the UAB SCIMS; Vicky Ott, SCIMS research participant; Michael Neville, SCIMS research participant; and Jeremy Wilroy, Ph.D., project co-director for the UAB SCIMS