Words by Derek Cutler, Research Director, Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research
At Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research (SMSR), we are funding vital research to improve the quality of life of people with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). We’re excited to announce two new projects in areas that we know are of the highest importance to people with SCI – pain management and mental health. Both projects have real potential to help people to live a better life with their injury.
Project 1: Trialling the use of bupropion to help neuropathic pain
Around half of people with SCI experience neuropathic pain, and its effects can be debilitating, with people reporting crushing or burning sensations, often for 24 hours a day. Current treatments are usually only marginally effective, which is why we’re looking for new and innovative ways to help.
A new study led by a UK-Danish collaboration will investigate whether an existing medication called bupropion can effectively and safely reduce this type of pain.
Bupropion is already approved in many countries to treat depression and help people stop smoking, and preliminary studies suggest it may also relieve other types of nerve pain. Its potential benefit is thought to come from its ability to boost the activity of dopamine and noradrenaline, neurotransmitters involved in the body’s natural, built-in pain-control pathways. Because bupropion is an established drug with a well-known safety profile, a positive result could be integrated into clinical practice much faster than a new medication, offering a quicker path to improved quality of life for people with SCI.
A key innovative aspect of the project is to explore whether a test of an individual's own pain-modulating capacity, known as conditioned pain modulation (CPM), can predict who is most likely to respond to the treatment.
This international project is led by Dr Jan Rosner, a consultant neurologist at the Spinal Cord Injury Centre of Western Denmark and the Danish Pain Research Centre at Aarhus University. He is collaborating with Professor Nanna Finnerup, Director of the Danish Pain Research Centre and Dr Harriet Kemp, a pain medicine consultant and senior lecturer at Imperial College London. By potentially providing a new treatment option and a way to personalise pain management, this research seeks to bring substantial relief to individuals with SCI, improving their physical and emotional well-being.
The study is due to commence in January 2026, and SMSR is funding a PhD student as a core part of the project.
Project 2: Embedding mental health strategies into rehabilitation programmes
Our second new project aims to find the best ways to support the mental health and wellbeing of people living with an SCI. The project is centred on a new resource called the Mental Health and Wellbeing Module (MHM), which was co-designed with people with SCI, who identified mental health as their top priority. The project focuses on how best to introduce and use the MHM in routine healthcare and community settings in both Australia and the UK.
The MHM provides a "toolbox" of evidence-based strategies to help people build resilience and self-management skills. Examples of these strategies include components from recognised therapies, such as mindfulness-based approaches, as well as practical tools like keeping a mood diary.
The goal is to empower people with SCI to better manage their emotional wellbeing, especially for mild symptoms that may not meet the threshold for clinical intervention but still significantly impact quality of life.
This project is being led by the University of Sydney, Australia, together with the National Spinal Injuries Centre, Stoke Mandeville, UK, and is due to start in January 2026.
For more information on SMSR and our work, please feel free to contract Derek Cutler, Research Director: