Spotlight on David Fuller: Breathing after spinal cord injury

A graphic with a photo of David Fuller, Ph.D., associate director of the UF BREATHE Center

By Erin Jester

Of the numerous physical challenges faced by people with severe spinal cord injuries, among the most fundamental is the ability to breathe.

“This is devastating to the individual that has to live with this condition,” said David Fuller, Ph.D., associate dean for research and professor of physical therapy in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions. “What we’re targeting is improved ability for the brain and the spinal cord to activate the respiratory muscles.”

Fuller is the associate director of the UF Breathing Research and Therapeutics, or BREATHE Center, the only facility in the country devoted to respiratory neuromuscular function. There, a group of more than 50 researchers and clinicians from 20 departments at UF work to develop methods to treat clinical disorders that compromise breathing, such as spinal cord injury. 

To that end, in August, Fuller received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate hyperoxia therapy for spinal cord injury. Fuller is working with a team of scientists and clinical experts to explore if and how increasing oxygen delivery can be beneficial when initiated shortly after spinal cord injury. 

“We’re doing relatively simple things, but with the potential for a powerful impact on the injured spinal cord,” Fuller said. “If this proves to be successful, I think it can very rapidly help the individual with spinal cord injury.”

Video produced by Shena Hays