Susan Howley

Background

About Susan Howley

As director of research, I am responsible for the administration of all Reeve Foundation research programs. These span the bench-to-bedside continuum. The Foundation supports an International Research Consortium on Spinal Cord Injury, a network of seven basic science laboratories. The NeuroRecovery Network translates the latest scientific advances into activity-based rehabilitation treatments for individuals with spinal cord injury and the North American Clinical Trials Network is a consortium of spinal cord neurosurgical / academic centers (10 clinical sites and data and pharmacological centers) that bring promising therapies from the laboratory to trial with maximum safety to patients and in a manner that insures meaningful data. More recently the Foundation has supported groundbreaking clinical research using epidural stimulation combined with locomotor training in completely paralyzed, chronically injured patients. We are pursuing this promising intervention on several fronts with the goals of facilitating stepping and standing and improving autonomic control of respiration and cardiovascular, bladder and sexual function. Specialties: Non-profit grant making; contract negotiations; peer review process; scientific networking, including bridge-building between the private, for-profit and federal sectors; federal grant writing and management.