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Congratulations Dr. Kajana Satkunendrarajah, recipient of the 2024 Anthony F. DiMarco MD Award for the abstract “Neuromodulation of Cervical Spinal Interneurons: A Novel Preclinical Translation Strategy to Restore Breathing After Chronic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury”. Dr. Kajana Satkunendrarajah was presented with the 2024 Anthony F. DiMarco MD award during the ASIA Annual Scientific Meeting in Puerto Rico.
Dr. Satkunendrarajah is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she also serves as the Associate Director of the Neuroscience Research Center. She earned her Ph.D. from The School of Medicine at Wayne State University and subsequently undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto in Canada. Dr. Satkunendrarajah’s research program is focused on unraveling the intricacies of neural networks governing motor behavior, both in healthy states and in the aftermath of spinal cord injuries and other neurological conditions. Her seminal discoveries include her work on cervical excitatory interneurons that undergo plasticity under respiratory stresses and can be genetically modulated to restore breathing after cervical spinal cord injury and the discovery of a novel sensory cortical-spinal circuit for locomotor control. Dr. Satkunendrarajah’s research program is driven by the dual objectives of deepening our comprehension of neural control of breathing and movement and harnessing this knowledge to pioneer novel therapies that bolster motor recovery in individuals affected by neurological conditions. Her work in motor control and spinal cord injury uniquely combines fundamental neuroscience, respiratory and locomotor physiology, and cutting-edge techniques such as viral manipulation, optogenetics, and chemogenetics in transgenic mouse models to manipulate neural circuits at the preclinical level. The Kajana Lab’s ultimate objective is to translate these research findings into effective treatments for spinal cord injured patients.
The Anthony F. DiMarco MD Award is an award given in the area of respiratory to foster research in spinal cord injury, engage individuals and enhancing membership in ASIA. Dr. DiMarco is a Professor of Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physiology and Biophysics at Case Western Reserve University. For more than two decades, Dr. DiMarco has been a leader in researching the restoration of respiratory muscle function in persons with spinal cord injury. He has received more than $17 million in funding as a Principal Investigator by the National Institutes of Health and the Food & Drug Administration over the past 25 years.
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Past Anthony F. DiMarco MD Award Recipients |
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| 2022 | C. Kevin Park, MD | Board-certified internist in Salt Lake City, Utah, specializing in SCI |
| 2021 | Michelle Trbovich, MD | Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Department of Rehabilitation |
| 2020 | Ronald J. Cotton, MD, PhD | Assistant Professor at Northwestern University Clinician-Scientist within the Center for Bionic Medicine at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. |
| 2019 | Audrey Chun, MD | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) |
| 2019 | Chris Cherian, MD | Rutgers New Jersey Medical School/Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation |
.Award Rules and Eligibility
The submission deadline for the Anthony F. DiMarco MD Award is the closing date for the General ASIA Call for Abstracts.
After reviewing all submitted abstracts, the Awards Committee will determine and notify the winner.
If you have any questions about this award or your submission, please email Patty Duncan patty@asia-spinalinjury.org
