CHP Women Making History Series in honor of Women's History Month - Aiko Thompson

All month long we are highlighting female faculty in the College of Health Professions, nominated by their peers, who are making history RIGHT NOW through their teaching, research, innovations, and activities.


Nominee:
Aiko Thompson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Health Sciences and Research
Number of years at CHP/MUSC: 7 years

Nominated by:
Gretchen A. Seif, PT, DPT, MHS, OCS
Associate Professor
Division of Physical Therapy

How is the nominee making history at CHP through their teaching, research, innovations, and/or activities?

Dr. Aiko Thompson is recognized for her work in spinal cord injury research which has led to her team being awarded a $1.62 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A native of southwest Japan, Dr. Thompson has spent the past 15 years conducting studies focused on helping patients with spinal cord injuries regain or restore lost function. She uses a unique protocol to train muscle responses to brain stimulation, which in turn help the patient’s brain and spinal cord to relearn to communicate with each other to move the patient’s arm or leg.

In 2020 Dr. Thompson was awarded a $1.62 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to be distributed through 2025. Thompson works with patients with incomplete spinal cord injuries – that is, patients who still have some feeling or movement below the site of their injury.

Learn more about Dr. Thompson, her work, and her NIH grant award:
https://chp.musc.edu/news-events/chp-news/2020/february/thompson-grant