InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV) today announced that James Guest, M.D., Ph.D., has joined its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Guest is currently a Professor of Neurological Surgery at the Miller School of Medicine and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis in Miami, FL.
Dr. Guest’s extensive contributions to the field of spinal cord injury, both in terms of medical practice and research, span over two decades. He’s held numerous hospital appointments such as attending neurosurgeon at the Barrow Neurological Institute, West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, the University of Miami Hospital, and Chief of Spinal Neurosurgery at Miami Veteran’s Medical Center. He’s given more than 25 invited lectures domestically and internationally and has authored over 75 peer-reviewed publications, including articles, book chapters, and abstracts in the areas of cellular therapy for spinal cord injury, biology of neuroglia, and mechanisms of secondary injury. Dr. Guest has been active in research design for human clinical trials, participating as a Principal Investigator for the North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN) for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury.
Dr. Guest earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science, a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Biology, and a Medical Degree from the University of Alberta, Edmonton in Canada. He also earned a Ph.D. from the University of Miami, Department of Neuroscience in Miami, FL. His thesis was titled “The potential for human Schwann cell grafts to influence spinal cord regeneration in the nude rat.” Dr. Guest completed his residency in the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and a fellowship in Spinal Surgery at the Barrow Neurologic Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Dr. Guest is widely regarded and respected for his scientific and medical contributions to the field of spinal cord injury and I am very pleased to welcome him to our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Mark Perrin, InVivo’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman.
“I am honored to join this Scientific Advisory Board. InVivo is advancing a new direction in spinal cord injury therapy. It is bold, but may open the door for new approaches in an area that remains without effective treatment,” said Dr. Guest.
Dr. Guest joins a world renowned group of research and development experts that include:
- Robert Langer, Sc.D., David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), holds the largest number of medical patents with >1,050 patents issued and pending worldwide. Being an Institute Professor is the highest honor that can be awarded to a faculty member at MIT.
- Sir Richard Roberts, Ph.D. was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for his contributions to genomics and the discovery of split genes.
- V. Reggie Edgerton, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Vice Chairman of the Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, authored the recent (April 2014) Brain article showing recovery of motor function in paraplegic patients after electrostimulation.
