Australian of the Year

News Release & Trust PA Comment:

26th January 2017 – London, UK: Following the announcement that Professor Alan Mackay-Sim has been named Australian of the Year we have seen some confusion in recent media reporting.

We feel it is important to clarify that he was not part of the scientific team responsible for the pioneering work that led to restored mobility to Polish man Darek Fidyka. This research was led by Professor Geoffrey Raisman and his team at UCL Institute of Neurology, London, and the clinical application by Dr. Pawel Tabakow through the Wroclaw Walk Again Project in Poland.

A full list of individuals can be found in the 2014 Cell Transplantation paper here: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1456144/1/Li_s13.pdf

ALSO - We have been informed by our scientific advisors as follows:

Mackay-Sim is a friend and colleague, but his work has little to do with the surgery on Darek.  Mackay-Sim worked on the cells from olfactory mucosa, which has been proven ineffective by him and us so far.  Darek was transplanted with the cells from his olfactory bulb (not mucosa) which significantly differs from Mackay-Sim’s work. 

Our congratulations go to Professor Alan Mackay-Sim on his Australian of the Year award and great contribution to the advancement of scientific research. 

NB: At Trust PA Spinal Injury we acknowledge & agree with the content of this news release. 

Trust PA was set up in 2002 to help fund the process to enable the eventual repair of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) paralysis - the work of Prof Geoff Raisman FRS. We have continued our funding ongoing to enable a better future for SCI paralysed people.

Further information can be found about Trust PA via our other charity site pages. www.trustpa.org.