Spinal Cord Injury Research Collaborative

09/10/2026

🥳 We're excited to announce that we have moved into our new home at the Kolling Institute. This is a great opportunity to strengthen our connections with other SCI researchers based there; share ideas and collaborate. We're excited to see how this new chapter drives our ability to find better therapies for people with spinal cord injuries.

While our office has a new home, our gym and trial research space continue to be at Ryde with the Royal Rehab Group, with sites around the country for our clinical trials.

25/09/2026

📢 If you haven't heard SCIRC has a Volunteer Database for people who have a spinal cord injury and would like to be involved in our trials and studies.

If you would like to be involved or just be kept up to date with our research join our Volunteer Database. Scan the QR code or follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/SCIRCVolunteers

🤝 Together we can find better therapies for people after a spinal cord injury

08/09/2026

🚶🏼Could you help us improve walking after spinal cord injury?

👏 Recruitment is reopening for our eWALK2 trial! We are rigorously testing non-invasive neurostimulation treatments for spinal cord injury. The trial is investigating whether electrical stimulation applied to the skin over the spinal cord, combined with walking training can improve walking after a spinal cord injury.

The 12-week program involves three sessions per week and is open to people with a cervical or thoracic spinal cord injury.

📍 Trial sites recruiting (with more to come):
•Wollongong (IOT)
•Perth
•St Peter’s / NeuroMoves
•Clyde / Neuromoves

For more information, or to take part, contact the researchers: 📧 scirc.research.sydney.edu.au
📞 0422 976 691

The eWalk2 trial is only possible due to the partnership of SpinalCure Australia, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia, The CatWalk Trust and Royal Rehab Group

14/08/2026

🗣️🎤The SCIRC team joined other researchers, advocates and people with lived experience of spinal cord injury at the SpinalCure Australia Summit. It was a great opportunity to bring our minds and ideas together to accelerate progress of therapies for SCI, spark new ideas and find better ways to collaborate.

📽️ Watch the video for a recap of our conversations and to hear SCIRC's Prof Jane Butler speak about our research.

13/07/2026

🎙️Listen to Dr Elizabeth Bye talk about our eWalk trial and its findings on ABC Radio National's Health Report

Dr Bye sat down with Norman Swan to discuss how spinal stimulation works and the results of the trial. We found no added advantage from spinal stimulation to improve walking; walking training on its own was just as effective as walking training plus stimulation.

🎧Listen here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/healthreport/do-spinal-stimulators-help-people-walk-again-/106869520

📖 Read the full manuscript here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(26)00049-0/fulltext

The eWalk trial is the first of its kind and gives us important direction to find the best therapy to improve function after a spinal cord injury. We continue to pursue this aim in our ongoing eWalk2 and Get A Grip trials.

❤️ Heartfelt thanks to all our participants, supporters and partners: SpinalCure Australia, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia and The CatWalk Trust. You all made this trial possible.

Standing and walking exercises are standard treatment for those with spinal cord injuries. A recent study tested the addition of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) to rehab training to see if it can improve walking mobility. Guest/s Dr Liz Bye, research fellow and physiotherapist from spi...

03/07/2026

Our research gym and lab spaces are coming to life at Royal Rehab Group's Ryde campus!

🥳One step closer to re-opening our eWalk2 and Get A Grip trials which both use spinal cord stimulation and physiotherapy to discover if this can improve function after a spinal cord injury.

👏Clinical trials take a lot of work to plan and prepare, and we are thankful to all those who have partnered with us to get this far.
We are preparing trial sites around the country, so follow us to hear when recruitment starts.

19/06/2026

🥳 We have partnered with the Royal Rehab Group Rehab Group and our trials will be based at the Royal Rehab Ryde Hospital. We are grateful and excited for this opportunity, as our team leader Prof Jane Butler said; this "is an Australian first for spinal cord injury research, embedding research directly within a specialised clinical rehabilitation environment".

👐 Collaborations like this give us a better chance of finding effective therapies and treatments for spinal cord injury. We are excited to see what impacts and progress we will make together.

A NEW SPINAL CORD INJURY RESEARCH BASE AT ROYAL REHAB RYDE

We are delighted to announce that, from 22 June, the Spinal Cord Injury Research Collaborative (SCIRC) will be based at our Royal Rehab Ryde Hospital campus.

Led by Professor Jane Butler from The Kolling Institute and The University of Sydney, SCIRC is a team of neurophysiologists, medical physicians and physiotherapists dedicated to advancing research into the neural control of movement following spinal cord injury. Their work aims to develop new approaches to improve limb, trunk and respiratory motor function, while delivering clinical trials that have the potential to improve outcomes for people living with spinal cord injury - work that aligns closely with Royal Rehab's clinical focus.

This is an important milestone for Royal Rehab Group and further strengthens our position as a leader in neurological rehabilitation, research and innovation. The co-location of a dedicated spinal cord injury research team within a specialised rehabilitation hospital creates a unique environment where research, clinical expertise and patient care come together to accelerate the translation of discoveries into practice.

As Professor Jane Butler explains, "We are thrilled to relocate our research gym and laboratories to Royal Rehab Hospital at Ryde—an Australian first for spinal cord injury research, embedding research directly within a specialised clinical rehabilitation environment, and a significant milestone for the field."

SCIRC has already worked closely with NeuroMoves, with future collaborations planned with Sargood on Collaroy. Together, these partnerships reflect Royal Rehab Group's ongoing commitment to advancing research, innovation and evidence-based care, helping shape the future of spinal cord injury rehabilitation in Australia.

27/05/2026

👏 💰 Thanks to generous funding from the Ben Kende Spinal Research Foundationto Prof Jane Butler and SCIRC at the University of Sydney to run a proof‑of‑concept trial exploring whether spinal stimulation can relieve orthostatic hypotension (OH) in people with spinal cord injury.

🩸📉 Orthostatic hypotension (OH) causes a drop in blood pressure when moving upright. It’s common after SCI, often debilitating, and hard to treat.

The SCIRC team will work with PhD student Dr Peter Sturgess on this 4‑week, at-home study to test daily stimulation to see if it’s a feasible and effective way to manage OH. This study will help shape future clinical trials and support the development of home‑based therapies to improve quality of life after SCI.

Pete’s study plans:

✅Study 1: Completed. Found: Stimulation significantly improved blood pressure regulation in people with SCI

❓Study 2: Upcoming. How stimulation improves blood pressure in people with SCI

❓Study 3: Now possible thanks to Ben Kende. Upcoming. Is stimulation showing real-world promise for OH? Is a full clinical trial the next step?

Follow us to stay up-to-date with Pete’s PhD studies and findings.

18/05/2026

🏃‍➡️ 🧑‍🦼‍➡️ 🚶‍♀️‍➡️ 👩‍🦽‍➡️ Last week, like every year, our SCIRC team laced up alongside the global Wings for Life World Run community. Moments like these are key to raising awareness and supporting research in spinal cord injury. Because big breakthroughs are built together.

🙏 A heartfelt thank you to our 14 team members & 23 donors, covering 162 km and raising $1,500 🧡

As researchers, being out there, side by side with the community at the heart of our research, lit up our motivation to keep exploring new ways to improve quality of life after a spinal cord injury. Thank you to everyone who ran, walked, rolled, or donated. We are in this together.
👋 See you next year!

08/05/2026

👩‍🦽‍➡️👨‍🦼‍➡️🏃‍➡️Our research team and supporters are proud to participate in the Wings for Life World Run for the fourth year in a row!
📆Join us on Sunday, May 10th 2026
📍Sydney runners & rollers start at 9:00 pm at Randwick Racecourse.

🌏This global movement is close to our hearts. It brings together thousands of people worldwide in a shared effort to fund research to improve the quality of life after a spinal cord injury and that is what drives our work every day.

This year, our team spans Canada, France, New Zealand, Austria, USA, and Australia - a beautiful reminder that this cause unites us across borders and time zones.
🇨🇦🇫🇷🇳🇿🇦🇹🇺🇸🇦🇺

Let's keep moving spinal cord injury research forward, together!
❤️A heartfelt thank you for your support - whether by joining the team or donating. Join our team here: https://www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com/en/teams/XVx1zE?join=1

Register, then you can join a team created by a friend, ambassador or pro athlete – or start your own team. Let your imagination run wild!