egenerativerehab

ust six years ago, it was merely an idea. Today, the Derfner-Lieberman Laboratory for Regenerative Rehabilitation Research is a global leader in this multidisciplinary field.

Trevor Dyson-Hudson, MD, and Gerard Malanga, MD, recognized the untapped potential in combining regenerative medicine with rehabilitation research and partnered to create the lab. With support from the Derfner Foundation and you, they founded the Derfner-Lieberman Fellowship. Since Dr. Malanga’s untimely passing in 2022, his colleague, Jay Bowen, DO, joined the team. Nathan Hogaboom, PhD, their first postdoctoral fellow, now plays a pivotal role as lab co-director.

“Gerry advocated passionately for this research, foreseeing how it would transform care,” Dr. Dyson-Hudson recalls. “Lessons learned under his leadership guide us in developing new treatments for relieving pain and restoring function.”

Building on their early success, the team has secured major grants to expand their novel lines of research. They are currently testing the injection of an individual’s own fat tissue as a potential treatment for disabling knee pain caused by meniscus injuries or arthritis.

As Dr. Dyson-Hudson explains, “Many affected individuals, including those in the military, want to avoid knee surgery, so there’s a pressing need for effective, minimally invasive treatments.”

The team is also exploring the potential benefits of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT), a noninvasive treatment that uses highintensity sound waves to stimulate healing. Marwa Amer, MD, PhD, the newest Derfner-Lieberman fellow, is testing ESWT for knee pain in a study funded by the Derfner Foundation. Meanwhile, Dr. Hogaboom is studying whether ESWT can alleviate spasticity, a painful complication of spinal cord injury that restricts movement.

“ESWT may offer an alternative way to treat these disabling conditions, avoiding the side effects of current drug treatments,” Dr. Hogaboom notes.

The Derfner-Lieberman Lab’s remarkable progress shows how passion, collaboration, and innovation can transform rehabilitative care.

“Partnering with the lab’s scientists has been most rewarding,” says Jay Lieberman, Derfner Foundation Trustee. “To fulfill Dr. Malanga’s vision, they are rethinking the approach to musculoskeletal conditions, one of the most common causes of disabilities. Their success will change lives.” oe’s remarkable journey.

The team’s accomplishments are impressive, but the real impact is illustrated by Joe Monteforte’s amazing story of recovery.

A wheelchair user with spinal cord injury and debilitating shoulder pain, Joe Monteforte faced the prospect of shoulder surgery in 2017, with its long recovery and risk of complications.

Then Joe took part in the Derfner-Lieberman Lab’s first pilot study. His pain was relieved after a single injection of his own fat tissue into his shoulder joint – a procedure called autologous micro-fragmented adipose tissue (MFAT) injection.

Five years later, Joe is still pain-free, leading an active lifestyle including daily workouts and long outings beside his wife, an avid race walker. “I use a state-ofthe-art workout facility with the newest machines,” says Joe, “so I’ve been able to intensify my exercise regimen. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.”

Thanks to you, Beth’s back on the ball.

Beth Holcomb has lived with multiple sclerosis for nearly twenty years. “Symptoms come and go, but fatigue remains,” explains Beth. “I’m a fulltime pre-school teacher. I love my job, but after five days of being on my feet and keeping up with the kids, I often have no energy left. I was considering scaling back my hours.”

But then she joined Kessler Foundation’s study on the effect of aerobic walking on brain processing speed, mobility, and quality of life for people with MS. She was curious to see if this exercise would help.

It did. After completing the regimen, Beth found her stamina had increased. “Now I can continue full-time work with energy left to enjoy being with my family and friends, and even go bowling,” she says.

“This research is essential to improving quality of life for people like me.” health experts agree, regular exercise can work wonders for our bodies and minds, improving mobility, lessening fatigue, and boosting mood. With a recent grant from the Dean Janeway Endowment Fund at New Jersey Health Foundation and support from donors like you, a new Kessler Foundation pilot study aims to determine whether home-based, aerobic walking exercise can reverse cognitive impairment caused by multiple sclerosis and deliver additional health benefits. Brian M. Sandroff, PhD, senior research scientist in the Center for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, leads the investigation.

This novel, randomized control trial builds on the Foundation’s 13 years of exercise research. Dr. Sandroff’s team will examine 12 months of home-based, remotely delivered and supported exercises, comparing high-frequency/ high-intensity aerobic walking to mild-tomoderate walking that parallels the current standard-of-care exercise often prescribed for MS patients.

“I believe this study will provide meaningful insight into developing aerobic exercise guidelines for specifically managing MS-related cognitive impairment at home and in the community,” says Dr. Sandroff. “We are hopeful that this pilot study sets the stage for the broad-scale consideration of aerobic walking exercise training for restoring cognitive functioning not improved by MS disease-modifying drugs. It may also answer the oftenasked question, ‘Does the amount or intensity of walking exercise matter?’”

If successful, this study may provide major benefits to individuals with MS. All participants should experience a general health boost, including improvements in fitness and mobility, along with a reduction in fatigue and depressive symptoms. Participants randomly assigned to the highfrequency/high-intensity group might