Pitt received a $4.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research last Friday to open the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Spinal Cord Injury.

Every five years there is a nationwide competitive renewal of the grant. There are 20 centers nationwide, three of which are at Pitt: RERC on Spinal Cord Injury, RERC on Telerehabilitation and RERC on Wheelchair Transportation.

Spinal cord injuries limit mobility, employment opportunities and social interactions. The RERC will research ways to help those with spinal cord injuries recover and function better in everyday life.

The center plans to focus its research on inflammation and healing, which vary greatly from patient to patient.

"We believe that the occurrence of pressure ulcers, urinary tract infection and musculoskeletal injuries that stem from spinal cord injury can be attributed to systemic inflammation," said David M. Brienza, director of the center and professor in the department of rehabilitation science and technology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Pressure ulcers are the medical term for what are more commonly known as "bed sores," Brienza explained. Wheel chair users often get them from sitting for a prolonged period of time. They also get shoulder injuries from manual wheelchairs. Though manual wheelchairs cost less and are easier to transport than motorized wheelchairs, they present these problems, which is part of what the RERC is working to decrease.

The research results could lead to pressure ulcer detectors, shoulder injury prevention among wheelchair users and improved bladder functioning. Overall, the research makes therapy more patient-specific and improves the process for each patient.

The center plans to spread information about rehabilitation, train other researchers and work with manufacturers to make better therapy devices more available to the consumers.

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