Latest Podcasts
Listen to Dr. Phillips speak on a variety of exciting topics; from how he ensures productivity on research projects, to his lab's research on restoring hemodynamic stability after spinal cord injury.
Welcome to the Phillips Lab
It may not be intuitive to many of us who don’t have a spinal cord injury, and can't immediately understand the severity of the disability beyond what they see with the naked eye, but there are many hidden and deceptive consequences of this condition. Although we all observe that there is certainly paralysis and loss of movement, people with spinal cord injury live on a daily basis with dysfunction of the unconscious bodily systems that most of us tend to take for granted. These functions are collectively called autonomic, in that they are largely operated by centres in our brain that are most commonly unconscious; in medicine, they are often considered autonomous. These functions include many of the bodily systems required for basic daily living, such as stable blood pressure so that our brains and hearts can function, bladder and bowel control so that we do not leak or store waste inappropriately, and the loss of sexual function, which can permeate into all aspects of life. After reading this, it is likely not surprising that these issues are consistently reported as being more important than walking again to people living with spinal cord injury. The Phillips Lab team is focused on understanding and solving these issues.
Latest News
From concept to life-changing reality for those with SCI
A new story from the University of Calgary highlights how an implantable spinal stimulation system is transforming care for people living with spinal cord injury. The therapy targets the lower thoracic spinal cord to stabilize blood pressure and reduce dangerous hypotensive episodes. Early clinical results show meaningful improvements in daily function, safety, and quality of life for individuals affected by severe autonomic dysfunction.
https://ucalgary.ca/news/concept-life-changing-reality-those-spinal-cord-injury
Dr. Jordan Lee Wins Lightsheet Striking Image Competition
Congratulations to Dr. Jordan Lee for being awarded first place in the 10th Annual Advanced Imaging and Microscopy (AIM) Network Striking Image Competition in the Lightsheet Microscopy category. His vivid lightsheet-cleared mouse heart image captured after spinal cord injury reveals tyrosine hydroxylase–containing “fight-or-flight” neurons that fine-tune cardiac function. Visualizing these neurons with such clarity provides new insight into how spinal cord injury reshapes the heart’s neural control.
A system to restore blood pressure after spinal cord injury
A study in Nature Medicine introduces an implantable spinal stimulation system that targets the lower thoracic spinal cord to immediately trigger robust increases in blood pressure and sustainably reduce hypotensive complications after spinal cord injury. By combining sensor-driven closed-loop control with a purpose-built electrode lead, the system improved quality of life and daily activity engagement in individuals who had been resistant to standard treatments.
A neuronal architecture underlying autonomic dysreflexia
A new study published in Nature uncovers the specific spinal circuits that drive dangerous episodes of autonomic dysreflexia after spinal cord injury, showing how abnormal connections between neurons form and how precisely targeted epidural electrical stimulation can restore stable blood pressure.
These findings provide a clear scientific foundation for developing device-based treatments to prevent autonomic dysreflexia and improve cardiovascular health and daily quality of life for individuals living with spinal cord injury.
Click here to read the paper A neuronal architecture underlying autonomic dysreflexia
Dr. Jordan Lee awarded prestigious CIHR Fellowship
We are proud to share that Dr. Jordan Lee has earned a CIHR Post-Doctoral Fellowship, placing in the top 3% of applicants nationwide. The CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship is a highly competitive national award offered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support outstanding postdoctoral trainees who are poised to become future leaders as they advance their training in health-related fields. Congratulations Dr. Lee!
HEMO Trial participant shares lived experience with SCI
Ahmed Hussein shares his experience living with a spinal cord injury, and the impacts to his daily life regarding blood pressure management with nerve damage. Ahmed participated in the HEMO trial, run by the RESTORE Network at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. The HEMO trial involved an implant on Ahmed's spinal cord, designed to monitor and modulate blood pressure fluctuations automatically, improving blood pressure symptoms such as hypertension, fainting, flushing, clot risk and more.
Dr. Phillips Awarded Science & PINS Prize for Neuromodulation
The Science & PINS Prize is awarded for innovative research that modulates neural activity through physical (electrical, magnetic, optical) stimulation of targeted sites in the nervous system with implications for translational medicine. Established in 2016, the prize is administered by Science and awarded annually for outstanding research as described in a 1,000 word essay based on research performed in the past three years.
The winner of the Science & PINS Prize for Neuromodulation is awarded US$25,000 and has their essay published in Science.
Read the prize-winning essay, Paralysis Under Pressure, here
Dr. Aaron Phillips awarded 2023 Hopewell M.I.N.D. Prize
Dr. Aaron Phillips is the 2023 recipient of the $1-million Hopewell M.I.N.D. Prize to advance his work in spinal cord injury. The research project was selected by an international panel of experts, including representatives from Harvard Medical School, the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
As the recipient of the 2023 prize, Phillips plans to use the award to test new ways to prevent spinal cord injury, reduce damage and support healing.
Dr. Phillips elected Royal Society of Canada Fellow
Congratulations to Dr. Aaron Phillips on being inducted into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. The College is Canada’s national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership. Scholars are selected for this honour based on academic excellence and glowing nominations from their leaders and peers.
Phillips Lab has successful showing at AAS 2024
At the recent 35th International Symposium on the Autonomic Nervous System, hosted in Santa Barbara, California, Jordan Lee, Ryan Miller, Donovan Smith, Meagan Smith, Alex Wang, and Jacquie Baker delivered oral presentations. Aaron Phillips, Kelly Larkin-Kaiser, and Meagan Smith chaired a session on Wearable Technologies for Autonomic Research and Medicine. Julien Rimok and David Girgis also presented well-received posters showcasing their latest work. These contributions highlight the continued excellence and impact of our lab's research in the field of autonomic neuroscience.
Meagan Smith awarded FMS/Penaz Wesseling Travel Fellowship
Meagan Smith was awarded the FMS/Penaz Wesseling Travel Fellowship Award for her oral presentation titled Epidural electrical stimulation eliminates postprandial hypotension in people with spinal cord injury at the 35th International Symposium on the Autonomic Nervous System hosted by the American Autonomic Society.
Dr. Phillips & Team Awarded Two CIHR grants and $1.8M!
Dr. Aaron Phillips and team received two CIHR project grants and ~1.8M to further study hemodynamic hotspot epidural electrical stimulation in preclinical models and a clinical trial!
Phillips Work Links Impaired Vascular Health & Heart Disease
Dr. Phillips' lab showing profoundly impaired vascular health linked to increased heart disease after spinal cord injury. Read the first study demonstrating that common carotid artery responses during cold-pressor test are suppressed in spinal cord injury.
Phillips Student Receives Award at 2022 AAS Meeting
Marcus Tso, a recent graduate from the Phillips lab, received an award for his poster presentation on optogenetic stimulation at the 2022 Annual American Autonomic Society Meeting. Congratulations Marcus!
Phillips Group Shows New Methods for Interrogating Circuitry
Phillips group publishes detail on new methods for interrogating sympathetic circuits and hemodynamic control in Nature Protocols.
Dr. Phillips & RESTORE Network Seeking Research Participants
The research team of Dr. Aaron Phillips and the RESTORE Network are currently recruiting research participants for a clinical trial evaluating epidural spinal cord stimulation after spinal cord injury.
Dr. Phillips receives 2022 Beverly Petterson Bishop Award
Dr. Aaron Phillips has been recognized by the American Physiological Society for his excellence in neuroscience and neurophysiology research with The Beverly Petterson Bishop Award.
Keeping the Pressure On
An international team of researchers, co-led by Dr. Aaron Phillips, has made an important breakthrough in the search for a treatment for dangerously low blood pressure in people with spinal cord injury.
Electrical Stimulation Stabilizes BP in Spinal Cord Injury
Dr. Aaron Phillips co-led a groundbreaking research study recently published in Nature.
Real Science with Aaron Phillips
This episode of Real Science features Dr. Aaron Phillips, an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Calgary. His work combines integrated physiology and neuroscience in order to understand cardiovascular function in a number of pre-clinical and clinical models. This interview also addresses his recent work on hemodynamic instability as a result of spinal cord injury.
LIVE with The Famous Dr AL and Aaron Phillips
Dr. Aaron Phillips is a neuroscientist, inventor, and entrepreneur whose groundbreaking research is restoring function after spinal cord injury using electrical stimulation. As Associate Dean of Innovation and co-founder of several health tech ventures—including the "Research Ally" mobile research platform—he's leading the charge to bring cutting-edge science from the lab to real-world impact. His work has been featured in Nature, Nature Medicine, Science, and has secured major funding and commercial partnerships.
Conveyor Belts of Progress with Dr. Aaron Phillips
We speak with Dr. Aaron Phillips who is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology, as well as Clinical Neurosciences at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Cardiac Science at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Calgary. He shares his approach to ensuring forward progress in ongoing projects. Dr. Phillips also speaks to the opportunity available to investors in Canada when it comes to funding early research.
Experimental Spinal Cord Injury and Orthostatic Hypotension
What is the causal relationship between high-level spinal cord injury, orthostatic hypotension and increased risk for cardiovascular disease? In this episode, Consulting Editor Patrick Osei-Owusu (Case Western Reserve University) interviews authors Christopher West (University of British Columbia) and Aaron Phillips (University of Calgary), along with expert Jill Wecht (James J. Peters VA Medical Center) about this topic.
Restoring a Reflex
In a healthy person, your body automatically adjusts blood pressure constantly, and this adjustment is governed by what’s called the baroreflex. However, a spinal cord injury can disrupt this reflex, which has both short term consequences, like passing out, but also long term consequences like an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. On this episode of the Bio Eats World Journal Club, host Lauren Richardson is joined by Dr. Aaron Phillips of the University of Calgary to talk about his group’s recent article “Neuroprosthetic baroreflex controls haemodynamics after spinal cord injury“, by Squair et al., published in Nature.
Phillips Lab Wins Hopewell M.I.N.D. Prize for Spinal Cord Injury Innovation
Dr. Aaron Phillips is the 2023 recipient of the $1-million Hopewell M.I.N.D. Prize to advance his work on spinal cord injury recovery. The research project was selected by an international panel of experts, including representatives from Harvard Medical School, the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The innovative and bold concept aims to understand a strategy to reduce damage and promote recovery following spinal cord injury.
Hotchkiss Brain Institute
