Two VA scientists awarded for work on spinal cord injuries

William A. Bauman, MD, and Ann M. Spungen, PhD, the Director and Associate Director of the Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development National Center of Excellence for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, were awarded recently with the Samuel J. Heyman Science and Environment Medal.

The Science and Environment Medal, also referred to as the “Sammies,” is awarded to federal employees who have made a significant contribution to the nation.

Bauman and Spungen established the VA’s Rehabilitation Research and Development National Center of Excellence for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury in Bronx, NY, in 2001. There, Spungen most recently tested a new bionic walking assistance system that enables individuals with paralysis to stand, walk and climb stairs, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Throughout their collaboration, Bauman and Spungen have made strides in understanding how spinal cord injury affects the body, including the discovery that individuals with spinal cord injuries have higher heart disease risk, according to the release.

Bauman has worked at the Bronx VA hospital for 35 years, starting in the laboratory of the late Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, a VA physicist and Nobel Prize winner. Spungen said she was enamored with the scientists and investigators at the VA and decided to dedicate her career to the center.

This year, eight award winners were chosen from 33 finalists and almost 400 nominees, according to the release.