Unite 2 Fight Paralysis
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U.S based & community led. We educate and accelerate functional recovery research — cure paralysis!
06/18/2026
Can AI chatbots provide reliable answers to spinal cord injury (SCI) health questions?
That's the question explored in a recent episode of CureCast from Unite 2 Fight Paralysis , featuring Praxis collaborator Dr. Abel Torres-Espin from the University of Waterloo .
The conversation dives into new research examining how large language models respond to SCI-related questions, where they perform well, where they fall short, and why evidence-based evaluation is essential as these tools become more widely used.
At Praxis, we're proud to support research that helps ensure emerging technologies are accurate, trustworthy, and ultimately improve access to high quality health information for people living with SCI, clinicians, and researchers alike.
Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or SoundCloud:
https://on.soundcloud.com/Mc38KWgUQPWFHhRlXG
Zac Wolfe is known for his grit and determination. He is a great example of how you can live a full life with a spinal cord injury and still maintain the fire to push for better outcomes. A few years ago, Zac enrolled in a Department of Defense, SCIRP-funded clinical trial using transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) to improve upper limb function.
In this conversation we bring on Zac and the principal investigator of the study, Dr. Ela Plow of the Cleveland Clinic, to discuss how tDCS works along with the details of the study and what function Zac recovered. We also talk about the role of belief and determination in study participants, the importance of advocacy, why siloed thinking hinders research progress, how small functional gains become cascades for additional recovery and much more. This is an interesting conversation that I know you’ll enjoy, so let’s get to it!
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06/05/2026
I’m writing with two opportunities to flex your advocacy muscles. Both of these actions are quick and keep the SCI community’s functional recovery priorities on our Federal lawmakers’ radars.
1. Thank SCIRP Co-signers
On May 12th 2026, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote a letter to the defense appropriators in the Senate, urging them to prioritize and increase the budget for the Department of Defense accounts that fund medical research, including the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP). The letter was co-signed by 29 additional lawmakers.
2. Support SCI Model Systems
The second opportunity is being championed by our friends at United Spinal Association in support of the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS). There are 18 model system rehabilitation hospitals/centers throughout the US. These centers are the gold-standard for post-injury care and specialize in neurotrauma. They also conduct clinical trials for rehabilitation research. If you attended a rehab hospital like Shepherd Center, Craig Hospital, Shirley-Ryan or Courage-Kenney, then you attended a Model System rehab center.
SCIMS is a Federally funded program whose budget is being threatened. There are already too few of these centers of excellence and a lapse in funding would diminish care for the newly injured, vital research, and the network of information and data that supports our entire community.
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Chronic neuropathic pain is the worst. Knives, cold acid, lightning bolts. This is how it has been described. For many, it never lets up. Although it is among the highest priorities to be solved from the perspective of the SCI community, there are no comprehensive answers. So what is the holdup? In our conversation with Dr. John “Kip” Kramer, from ICORD, we unpack this issue. We talk about what researchers know about neuropathic pain, its mechanism, what they are working on and what is on the horizon. Listen to episode 142 of the CureCast and get educated on the subject of pain.
#ᴄʜʀᴏɴɪᴄᴘᴀɪɴ
05/29/2026
Run or wheel with Team U2FP! *E-assist allowed*
Sunday, October 4th, 2026
1. Receive guaranteed admission to one of the most popular
marathons in the United States
2. Train hard for this nationally recognized marathon
3. Ask your friends and family to donate to your race efforts
4. Every dollar raised supports U2FP’s mission to cure paralysis
Register: [email protected]
After seeing Jacob Goldsmith’s presentation at the symposium in Minneapolis and recently talking with him more about testosterone and recovery, I was inspired to finally get my testosterone checked. Really opened my eyes to how important it is for overall health and performance
A total testosterone number by itself doesn’t tell the whole story. Someone can have “normal” or even high testosterone on labs and still have symptoms if the hormone isn’t being properly used, converted, transported, or supported by the rest of the body.
1. Free Testosterone
This is one of the biggest missing pieces.
* Total testosterone = all testosterone in your blood
* Free testosterone = testosterone actually available for your body to use
A person can have:
* high total testosterone
* but low free testosterone
…because too much is bound up by proteins like SHBG.
2. SHBG (S*x Hormone Binding Globulin)
SHBG acts like a “carrier” that binds testosterone.
If SHBG is:
* too high → less usable testosterone
* too low → hormones can become unstable
Two guys with the same testosterone level can feel completely different depending on SHBG.
3. Albumin
Another protein that carries testosterone.
Bioavailable testosterone = free testosterone + loosely bound testosterone (mostly albumin-bound).
This helps show how much your body can realistically access.
05/05/2026
We have spots to fill on our charity team for the Twin Cities 10-miler or Full Marathon, Sunday October 4th, 2026.
EMAIL: [email protected]
*All wheelchairs and E-assist mobility devices are welcome for this race!*
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U2FP exists to accelerate progress toward recovery from spinal cord injury (SCI) by pushing for greater collaboration. To do this, we host an annual symposium that brings together SCI survivors, family members, scientists and clinicians; advocate for smart legislative funding in multiple states (over $40M
passed to date); host an educational podcast with top scientists and advocates; and place individuals with a spinal cord injury into SCI research labs to act as lived-experience consultants.
Our vision for a cure is restoration of one’s fully functional body, including relief from pain and spasms, return of bowel, bladder and sexual function, and recovery of normal sensation in addition to motor control. Improving any one of these individual issues would greatly improve independence and quality of life.
We work to deepen collaboration amongst scientists, investors, advocates, clinicians, and regulatory agencies.
04/17/2026
U2FP's Virtual Silent Auction is live! Register now (it's free!) and bid on over 100 cool items or experiences that are up for grabs - these are just a random sampling of ALL the cool stuff on offer. All winning bids benefit U2FP's work for functional recovery - let's go!
04/15/2026
Register for our Silent Auction (free!) starting tomorrow, Thursday April 16 at 5:30pm. And/or come to our Fundraising Gala at the Bird’s Nest on Saturday, April 18. Our goal is to raise $30,000 for functional recovery after SCI. Join us!
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