In the News

Praxis Spinal Cord Institute Adds Four Leaders to Board

Vancouver, BC, July 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — (VANCOUVER, BC) – The appointment of four new members to the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute board of directors is bringing welcome experience in finance, governance, community, and health care to the board.

Health care research leader Sean Gjos, technology finance expert Peter Guo, business leader Jauvonne Kitto, and financial executive Harbir Toor will join the 10 current members of the board. Together they exemplify our unique Praxis model and strengthen our impact, which is based not only on partnership but also engagement with people living with spinal cord injury. At Praxis, our impact is strengthened through unique, consumer-engaged programs that support the advancement of creative ideas. This engagement is essential for setting priorities in research and innovation that reflect the needs of people who have spinal cord injury. This ensures our work is relevant and will have a significant impact on quality of life later on.

The Perfect Storm

UCLA Magazine, Summer 2004
On March 3, 1999, Anderson School classmates Sean Gjos, Eric Eisner and Ralph Vogel were playing for UCLA’s club team in a national-championship ice-hockey tournament – the first time that the Bruins had made it into the postseason.

The game in Salt Lake City, Utah, had barely gotten under way when Gjos M.B.A. ’99 went shoulder-to-shoulder against a player from Life University, a small college in Marietta, Ga. As they raced for the puck, a body check knocked the 6-foot-1-inch Gjos off balance and sent him crashing into the boards. A moment later he was down on the ice.
Read more … (PDF)

Keanu Reeves Supports ‘Revolution’ in Paralysis Treatment

USAToday.com, August 20, 2003 As Neo in The Matrix, Keanu Reeves realizes he is 'the one.' In real life Reeves hopes to start a revolution in the treatment and care of people suffering from spinal cord injuries. Reeves joined fellow celebrities and NHL stars last Sunday for a celebrity hockey game to benefit the Spinal Cord Opportunities for Rehabilitation Endowment Foundation. The full article: August 20, 2003 - As Neo in The Matrix, Keanu Reeves realizes he is ‘the one.’ In real life Reeves hopes to start a revolution in the treatment and care of people suffering from spinal cord injuries. Reeves joined fellow celebrities and
...Read more

UCSD Researchers Discover Mechanism of Natural Recovery from Spinal Cord Injury

UCSD School of Medicine News, March 13, 2001 Mark Tuszynski and colleagues at UCSD discovered that nerve fibers grew after injury without any intervention. The researchers are now studying what intervention could do to help growth.

EMBARGOED By Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for 5 p.m. EST Monday, March 12, 2001 UCSD Researchers Discover Mechanism of Natural Recovery from Spinal Cord Injury Findings Have Potential for New Therapies Researchers ha
...Read more

2 Positive People a Plus for Others

Chicago Tribune, October 8, 2000 J.J. O'Connor and Rob Komosa have a lot in common. Each was a young athlete whose playing career ended in a horrifying moment that left him paralyzed. In the last six months the two have become friends, but it's not a relationship built on tragedy. What binds them together--and sets them apart--is a determination not just to reject self-pity but also to ease the way for others like themselves. "I had so much support when I was hurt that when people around you are hurt, you want to give back," O'Connor said. "It makes you stronger when you can support others. "The same way people have supported me, I support Rob." O'Connor, then a Loyola Academy
...Read more

Section offers other side of athletics, big games

UCLA Daily Bruin, September 25, 2000 Sean Gjos stands as an example of athletes we can learn a lot from despite not being the best or a famous name. I've written at least 100 articles for the Daily Bruin, featured people currently in Sydney and covered athletes who've won national championships. And one thing I've learned is that it's not always the biggest, best or brand-name athletes who have the stories to tell. Sometimes you can learn a lot from the ones who love the sport so much they'd pay for the honor of playing it. A year ago I wrote a story about Sean Gjos, a UCLA club hockey player who had slammed into the boards during a game and crushed a part of his spine
...Read more

Non-Profit Foundation SCORE Donates $50,000 To Help Cure Paralysis

Business Wire, March 2000 In an effort to support spinal cord injury research, a non-profit foundation has donated a total of $50,000 to two key organizations -- the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis -- on March 17. In an effort to support spinal cord injury research, a non-profit foundation has donated a total of $50,000 to two key organizations -- the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis -- on March 17. The gift was made by SCORE (Spinal Cord Opportunities for Rehabilitation Endowment), a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping spinal cord injury vi
...Read more

Matt ‘The Cat’ Maw Set to Bounce Back

The Salt Lake Tribune, March 2000 Sure, Matt Maw is pumped by his promised April visit with Superman, but what he really wants to do is cross the street. Sure, Matt Maw is pumped by his promised April visit with Superman, but what he really wants to do is cross the street. Maw, 22, was a world-class power tumbler until a training mishap five weeks ago left him with almost no movement in his arms and legs. The gymnast, who was working toward the 2004 Summer Olympics, attempted a triple back tuck maneuver in practice Feb. 23 when he slipped and landed on his head, breaking two vertebrae in his neck. Actor Christopher Reeve, a quadriplegic, will appear at a benefit in Ogden on April 13
...Read more

Head Above Ice

UCLA Daily Bruin, June 1999 Paralyzed in a hockey game, UCLA's Sean Gjos is facing his toughest battle yet as he struggles to walk again. If you were to ask Sean Gjos about his accident, you'd find there's a lot he could tell you. He could tell you how he ended up on the bad side of a routine body check that sent him flying into the boards. He could tell you how, as he lay helplessly on the ice, he just kept wishing the pain in his back would end. And he could tell you how, as the numbness swept from his toes to his waist, he was very, very scared. "I really don't remember what I was thinking - it was a combination of fear and wanting the pain to go away," Gjos said. The memories don't end there.
...Read more

The Day One Bruin’s Game Suddenly Stood Still

LA Times, April 1999 A routine body-check paralyzed MBA student Sean Gjos. Now his attitude and friends help him through. "A routine body-check paralyzed MBA student Sean Gjos. Now his attitude and friends help him through. The worst part is in the morning, when Sean Gjos emerges from the forgiving fog of sleep and is suddenly jolted back to reality. He remembers that his life, which had been progressing so smoothly, changed irrevocably in an instant because of a freak accident in a hockey game. He remembers that he can't walk and that because he hasn't gotten a car with hand controls, he's dependent on friends to get to doctors' appointments and classes at UCLA's Anderson Sc
...Read more