Recipient of the 2025 NHMRC Consumer Involvement Award, Professor James St John is a translational neuroscientist specialising in the creation and delivery of therapies to repair injuries and diseases of the nervous system. He has driven the development of a comprehensive consumer involvement program to design and create a cell transplantation therapy for repairing chronic spinal cord injury which is now progressing to a clinical trial.
Spinal cord injury is devastating because it can lead to permanent loss of function below the injury level. This includes loss of the ability to move, feel and control of the bowel and bladder as well as sexual function. Despite decades of research to find a treatment, there is still no clinically available therapy for spinal cord injury.
“With over 20,000 people living with spinal cord injury in Australia and over 15 million worldwide, there is clearly an urgent unmet need. The team that I lead hopes to change that outcome by delivering to the community a cell transplantation therapy.”
In 2025, we are commencing a clinical trial (Phase I) to test the safety and feasibility of implanting cellular nerve bridges into the chronically injured spinal cord.
“The cellular nerve bridges are a breakthrough technology that we think will drive therapeutic innovation not just for spinal cord injury, but for other regions of the nervous system as well.”
My career journey is a little different in comparison to others. My undergraduate degree and PhD were both in agricultural science, and I specialised in carbohydrate metabolism in pasture grasses.
While I truly wanted a career in that field, I was offered a postdoctoral job to explore how carbohydrates were involved in the development of the olfactory (sense of smell) system. I knew a lot about carbohydrates, but nothing about a brain. I took the risk and changed fields and was soon hooked on the excitement of neurobiology.
“I learnt how the nervous system first develops, explored how it responds after injury, and then focused on creating a therapy to treat said injury.”
In 2016, I proposed the vision that we could create and deliver a cell transplantation therapy to repair spinal cord injury. The Clem Jones Foundation agreed with my vision and funded the commencement of the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research. Our long-term partner the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation then went into overdrive to raise awareness and funding.
“But laboratory research alone is not enough. In 2016 I heard a talk by Australia’s Chief Scientist at the time, Dr Alan Finkel, who described innovation as starting with understanding what the consumer wants. I embraced that approach and embarked on developing a comprehensive consumer involvement program.”
I established a consumer panel of people living with spinal cord injury from around Australia that meets once a month to discuss the research. The panel members have given considerable input into the trial design and are co-investigators for the trial.
“My team also commenced conducting in-person and virtual lab tours where the spinal cord injury community could see our research first-hand and give immediate feedback about the research.”
We also surveyed the community to understand their attitudes to a cell transplantation therapy, created animations to explain the therapy, and use extensive social media to give regular updates.
With this comprehensive consumer involvement approach, we have had strong support from the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, Queensland Government, NHMRC and MRFF and built a team over 40 researchers who come from 20 different countries.
“Our philosophy is that success is built on diversity of opinions and experiences and is driven by people who are willing to take risks with their ideas - while most ideas will not work, some ideas can be brilliant. Luckily, some of those brilliant ideas have led to our therapy for spinal cord injury.”
To have this trial created and delivered in Australia is testament to the strength of our research environment, but particularly the community involvement and support. This award for Consumer Involvement recognises the importance of the community and how effective partnerships can lead to success.