Spinal cord injury researchers win Apple Award for article on niacin for dyslipidemia

American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) has awarded its 2012 Apple Award to the article by Mark Nash, PhD, et al, entitled, "Safety, tolerance, and efficacy of extended-release niacin monotherapy for treating dyslipidemia risks in persons with chronic tetraplegia: a randomized multicenter controlled trial." The article, which was published in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in March 2011, is based on a study conducted in spinal cord injury (SCI) research centers in Florida, New York, New Jersey and California. The study was supported by a SCI Collaborative Research Project (grant no. H133A111105) from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and Kos Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Nash accepted the award at the annual ASIA meeting on behalf of the authors. Drs. Nash, John Lewis, and Armando J. Mendez are affiliated with the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida. Their co-authors are Trevor A. Dyson-Hudson, MD, of Kessler Foundation, West Orange, NJ, Yaga Szlachcic, MD, and Florence Yee, PharmD of Rancho Los Amigos National Research Center, Downey, CA, and Ann M. Spungen, EdD, and William A. Bauman, MD, of the James Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Dr. Dyson-Hudson acknowledged the many challenges to carrying out a multi-center clinical trial. "However," he commented, "results from rigorously controlled collaborative studies like this one provide the necessary evidence to support the usage of interventions in persons with SCI and provide the foundation for clinical guidelines in this population."

The Apple Award is named for David Apple, Jr., MD, medical director emeritus of Shepherd Center and a well known SCI researcher. The Apple Award acknowledges excellence in publishing in SCI rehabilitation research. This annual prize is given at the ASIA meeting,. The award for the best published paper by a clinician or researcher in the preceding calendar year is now in its sixth year. The award is sponsored by ASIA, Shepherd Center, and Thomas Land Publishers, Inc.

More information:
doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2010.06.029

Provided by Kessler Foundation