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Contacts
Michael Di Scipio was a ten-year veteran of the Albany County Sheriff’s Dept. where he was employed as a corrections officer when he had a diving accident at his home on July 3, 1999 during the party celebrating his son’s Little League championship. Mike broke his C-4, C-5 vertebrae, which left him completely paralyzed from the chest down. He has since become a member of the Capital District Chapter of the Spinal Cord Society where he volunteers his time. He is now an advocate and driving force for the advancement of human embryonic stem cell research legislation in New York State. In his efforts to achieve passage of crucial legislation, Mike has met with NYS Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno. He has also spoken at the NYS Assembly press conference on the passage of bill A06249, which addresses reproductive cloning prohibition and research protection. Mike has also raised $8600 to erect a billboard at the intersection of two major interstate arterials leading into downtown Albany and is now launching a mass-mailing campaign via e-mail and the postal service to raise awareness of the importance of stem cell research.
Mike Di Scipio can be contacted at mdiscip2@nycap.rr.com
Paul Richter is a retired New York State Police Zone Sergeant who was shot three times while on duty in September, 1973 in Lake Placid, NY during a routine traffic stop. Paul has residual permanent partial paralysis from the gunshot wound that damaged his spinal cord in the C-6, C-7 vertebrae region. He is a member of the Capital District Chapter of the Spinal Cord Society and the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Board, to which he was recently re-appointed by Gov. George Pataki for another four-year term. This Board funds spinal cord research with the hope of finding a cure. Paul was the impetus behind the creation of the Spinal Cord Injury Research Board, which generates up to $8.5 million annually from surcharges imposed on motorists convicted of moving traffic violations. This legislation, known as "The Paul Richter Bill," was signed into law in July, 1998 by Governor Pataki. Several other states have followed New York’s example by enacting similar legislation.
Paul Richter can be contacted at prichter05@aol.com
Dr. Allen Carl, M.D. studied medicine at SUNY Buffalo and continued with his postgraduate training at several renowned centers in metropolitan New York: Albert Einstein, Montefiore, Bellevue Hospital Center and New York University. After completing a fellowship in spinal research at Toronto General Hospital, Dr. Carl and his family settled in Albany, New York. Through his work at Albany Medical Center, he has come in contact with many spinal cord injury patients and has used this experience to focus research efforts which has been presented and published in the US and internationally.
Dr. Allen Carl, M.D. is a member of the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Board. With the neurosurgeons at Albany Medical Center, he worked on the first-ever placement of transfected porcine stem cells into the spinal cord of a human with spinal cord injury. Understanding the biomechanics and viscoelastic properties of the spinal cord in a large animal model has been the target of much of his research. Dr. Carl has also been involved in the implantation of electrical stimulators to bypass the spinal cord, which would allow muscle function in humans with spinal cord injuries.
Dr. Allen Carl, M.D. can be contacted at: alcsar@nycap.rr.com
Professor Sally Temple, PhD was born and raised
in England, completing her BA at Cambridge University and her PhD
at University College, London. Her studies focused on the development
of the nervous system. She then studied at Columbia University in
New York with Dr. Tom Jessell, an eminent spinal cord researcher,
and at Miami University Medical School, where she collaborated with
members of the Center to Cure Paralysis. Professor Temple receives
funding for research into the application of stem cells to spinal
cord injury from the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Board,
Project ALS and the Foundation to Cure Paralysis. She also receives
grants for stem cell research from the National
Institutes of Health.
Professor Sally Temple, PhD can be contacted at temples@mail.amc.edu
Professor Sally Temple, PhD
Room TSX 206
Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience
MC 60
Albany Medical College
47 New Scotland Avenue
Albany NY 12208
USA
phone: 518-262-6850 (office), - 5416 (lab)
fax 518-262-4348/5799
Gary Wood is the president of the Capital District Chapter of the Spinal Cord Society. He suffered a spinal cord injury at the T-3, T-4 level in 1978 in a motorcycle accident. A 1987 graduate of the SUNY Albany School of Business, Gary is currently employed by the New York State Health Department as a Health Program Administrator. He has been active in the Spinal Cord Society since 1981 and became Chapter President in 1984.
Gary Wood can be contacted at gwood1@nycap.rr.com
The Spinal Cord Society (SCS) is an international, not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injury paralysis and other related neural problems, such as stroke, epilepsy, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis and other diseases of the central nervous system. Dr. Charles Carson, paralyzed as a result of an aviation accident, founded SCS in Minnesota in 1978. An all-volunteer chapter network was started in 1980. Dr. Carson was mentioned by President Ronald Reagan in a State of the Union address for his selfless efforts on behalf of those with spinal cord injuries. Through its monthly newsletter and groundbreaking research, the SCS has shown that the regeneration of neurons is possible and that the future of those injured is not hopeless, as once thought. The first research grants were made in 1979 and more than $10 million in grants have been awarded to date.
David Whalen, Esq. Organized the Capital District Chapter in 1981 to increase public awareness of spinal cord injury paralysis and to raise funds to support cure-oriented research. Members of the Capital District Chapter were instrumental in spearheading legislation that created the NYS Spinal Cord Injury Research Board/Fund that provides funding for cure-oriented research. The chapter is constantly reaching out to the spinal-cord-injured community to help in any way it can.
David Whalen, Esq. can be contacted at dw@nycap.rr.com
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