The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) returned to San Antonio for four days of research presentations, clinical workshops, and hands-on training built around spinal cord injury care, rehabilitation, and science.
A look inside Ian Burkhart's General Session at the 53rd ASIA Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, April 23–26, 2026. Select any photo to enlarge it.
ASIA's Annual Scientific Meeting is the single most important spinal cord injury-specific conference in North America. Since 1973, the American Spinal Injury Association has set the clinical and research standards that shape how SCI is classified, treated, and studied worldwide. The ISNCSCI examination, the ASIA Impairment Scale (AIS), and the International SCI Data Sets all originated from this organization's work.
The 53rd meeting in San Antonio continued that tradition. Attendees heard directly from the investigators, clinicians, and allied health professionals producing the field's most current evidence. The program brought together clinicians, researchers, and SCI professionals from across disciplines, so that bench science, clinical medicine, rehabilitation, and community-based care shared the same stage.
Whether you practice rehabilitation medicine, conduct translational research, work in nursing or therapy, or live with a spinal cord injury yourself, ASIA 2026 delivered a concentration of SCI-specific content that no other North American conference matches.
Thursday precourses ran the full day before the main meeting opened. Three sessions were held in 2026, each requiring separate registration.
Cancer and SCI intersect in ways that call for coordinated care across surgery, oncology, and rehabilitation. This precourse brought together oncologists, spine surgeons, and rehabilitation specialists to address tumor identification, surgical decision-making, and post-operative recovery strategies for patients with spinal tumors. Attendees worked through real cases where tumor biology, neurological status, and functional goals had to be weighed simultaneously.
Best suited for: Physiatrists, oncologists, spine surgeons, rehabilitation nurses, physical and occupational therapists working with cancer-related SCI populations
The SCI Model Systems Network has been collecting longitudinal data on injury outcomes, psychosocial health, and biological recovery markers since 1972. This precourse presented findings from the most recent five-year cycle (2021–2026), covering epidemiologic trends, psychosocial outcomes, and biological insights gathered across SCIMS-designated centers. Presenters walked through the data, discussed methodology, and described how findings can inform clinical protocols and policy decisions.
Best suited for: Researchers, epidemiologists, program directors, physiatrists, and clinicians interested in population-level SCI outcomes data
The International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) examination remains the gold standard for assessing motor and sensory function after SCI. This hands-on precourse covers proper administration, scoring, and classification using the current standards. Participants practice the exam under the guidance of ASIA-certified instructors and receive feedback on technique and documentation.
If your team regularly classifies spinal cord injuries, this training is directly tied to NASCIC's guide to the ASIA Impairment Scale, which walks through AIS grading, dermatome mapping, and motor scoring in detail.
Best suited for: Physicians, nurses, therapists, and clinical researchers who perform or interpret ISNCSCI examinations
The three-day main program integrated research, medicine, rehabilitation, and community-based care through multiple presentation formats.
Peer-reviewed oral presentations selected from submitted abstracts. These sessions feature original research across SCI topics including acute care, rehabilitation outcomes, neuroplasticity, autonomic dysfunction, pain management, and quality of life. Each presentation is followed by audience Q&A, giving attendees direct access to the investigators behind the work.
Scientific poster displays are scheduled across dedicated time blocks, allowing one-on-one discussion with authors. Poster sessions at ASIA are often where early-career investigators debut their work and where established researchers present preliminary data from ongoing trials. This is some of the most accessible content at the meeting for networking and collaboration.
Skills-based sessions where participants learn specific clinical techniques through guided practice. Workshops vary by year but historically cover topics such as ultrasound-guided procedures, bladder management protocols, respiratory assessment, and musculoskeletal examination. These sessions typically have limited capacity, so early registration is recommended.
Longer-format educational sessions designed to go deeper on a single clinical or research topic. Instructional courses at ASIA are taught by recognized authorities in the field and typically include case-based learning components.
The SCI Data Challenge returned in 2026 with a second iteration that built on the original competition's framework. Version 2.0 asked participants to predict the full ISNCSCI examination results from measurements obtained through the expedited version of the exam (E-ISNCSCI).
Why does this matter? The full ISNCSCI exam is the standard for classifying neurological status after SCI, but it takes considerable time and training to administer properly. An expedited version that preserves diagnostic accuracy would directly affect clinical workflows in acute care settings, where time and staffing pressures are constant. The Data Challenge invites researchers, data scientists, and clinicians to apply machine learning and statistical methods to this problem using real clinical datasets.
Results from the SCI Data Challenge v2.0 were presented during the main meeting in San Antonio. If you work with ISNCSCI data or have experience in predictive modeling for clinical populations, this remains a concrete standardization effort with immediate clinical applications.
Each year at the ASIA Annual Scientific Meeting, the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation presents its Allied Health Professional Research Award. This $30,000 grant supports clinicians at the Master's or Clinical Doctorate level who are developing research skills under the mentorship of an experienced investigator. The award funds a one-year clinical research project in the spinal cord injury field.
The 2026 recipient, Amilie Langlois, MScPT, received the award in San Antonio for her study on perioperative pelvic floor physiotherapy protocols aimed at preventing neurogenic sphincter complications following spinal surgery. Langlois presented her research plan during the meeting.
The Neilsen Foundation is the largest private funder of SCI research, rehabilitation, and clinical training in North America. This award specifically targets allied health professionals (physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, rehabilitation nurses, and others) who want to move from clinical practice into evidence-based research. For allied health professionals attending ASIA 2026, the award presentation is both a recognition of the recipient's work and a signal that the field actively supports clinician-investigators.
Past President, North American Spinal Cord Injury Consortium (NASCIC)
Ian Burkhart became the first person in the world to restore movement to a paralyzed limb using a brain-computer interface (BCI) neuroprosthetic. After sustaining a cervical spinal cord injury in 2010 at age 19, Burkhart volunteered for a clinical trial at The Ohio State University. Researchers implanted a 96-electrode array into his motor cortex, and over seven years, the team developed algorithms that translated his neural signals into functional hand movements, bypassing the injury site entirely.
Beyond his role as a research participant, Burkhart has become one of the most recognized advocates in the SCI community. He served as President of NASCIC, founded the BCI Pioneers Coalition (a community of implantable BCI research participants), and runs the Ian Burkhart Foundation, which supports accessible equipment and assistive technology for people living with SCI.
Community Engagement Findings to Inform Clinical Trial Design
Thirteen of fifteen participants identified hand and arm function as their top recovery priority. Pain management ranked second, followed by autonomic function including bladder and bowel control, which often took precedence over motor gains.
Participants described how their definition of quality of life shifted after injury, moving from physical activity toward autonomy and meaningful participation in daily life. Even small gains in muscle strength that fell below clinical thresholds were perceived as meaningful.
The best window for pharmaceutical intervention is the acute phase after injury, which is also when patients are least able to give informed consent. Geography and financial constraints add further barriers to clinical trial participation.
Participants valued functional outcomes and reliable, consistent improvements in real-world independence over traditional motor recovery metrics. Impact on their caregivers was also an important factor in how they measured progress.
This study draws on fifteen structured interviews with adults who have traumatic cervical SCI (AIS A or B, levels C2 through C7). Participants ranged in age from 27 to 73 years, with injuries sustained between 4 and 38 years prior. The findings argue that traditional motor recovery metrics alone do not capture what matters most to people living with spinal cord injuries. By incorporating patient-defined priorities into clinical trial outcome measures and regulatory frameworks, researchers can design studies that better reflect the real-world goals of the SCI community.
Physiatrists, neurologists, urologists, and primary care physicians who treat patients with spinal cord injuries. The meeting's workshops and instructional courses are structured around the clinical decisions you face in practice.
Basic scientists, translational researchers, clinical trialists, epidemiologists, and data scientists working on SCI-related questions. Podium sessions and the SCI Data Challenge offer direct channels to present findings and connect with potential collaborators.
Physical therapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, respiratory therapists, psychologists, and social workers. The Neilsen Award specifically honors allied health research, and the precourses and workshops address the hands-on skills these disciplines use daily.
Individuals with spinal cord injuries and their families bring a perspective that clinical and research attendees cannot replicate. ASIA's program increasingly reflects the need for patient and community voices in shaping research priorities and care delivery.
Research highlights from ASIA 2026 — including Ian Burkhart and Gabi Ocampo's findings on patient-centered priorities for acute cervical SCI — are summarized in this article. NASCIC will continue publishing companion knowledgebase content tied to topics presented in San Antonio.
Pair this recap with NASCIC's deep dive on the ASIA Impairment Scale for the classification framework that underpins the meeting's research.
ASIA's Annual Scientific Meeting returns in 2027. Date and location announcements are posted on the official ASIA site and shared through ASIA and NASCIC channels.
Subscribe to NASCIC updates to receive new research summaries, knowledgebase articles, and announcements about future SCI-focused programming as soon as they're published.
| Date | Day | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| April 23 | Thursday | Precourses: Spine Tumor Management, SCIMS Network Findings, ISNCSCI Examination Training |
| April 24 | Friday | Main Meeting Day 1: Opening Session, Sell Lecture, Podium Presentations, Poster Sessions, Instructional Courses, Welcome Event |
| April 25 | Saturday | Main Meeting Day 2: Award-Eligible Oral Presentations, General Sessions (including Ian Burkhart at 1:00 PM), Instructional Courses, Poster Sessions, President's Reception (5:30 PM) |
| April 26 | Sunday | Main Meeting Day 3: Awards Session, General Sessions, Instructional Courses, ISNCSCI Training Workshop, Closing Program |
Schedule reflects the program as held at ASIA 2026. Visit the official ASIA meeting page for archived program details and future meeting information.
The ASIA Impairment Scale (AIS) is the classification system that underpins nearly every clinical trial, outcome study, and prognostic model in the SCI field. It was developed and is maintained by ASIA's International Standards Committee, and any revisions or updates to the scale are discussed at the Annual Scientific Meeting before being formally published.
If you use the AIS in clinical practice or research, attending this meeting puts you in the same room as the people who write and refine the standard. The ISNCSCI Examination Training precourse (see above) is the most direct way to strengthen your classification skills, and NASCIC has published a full guide to the ASIA Impairment Scale that covers AIS grading, motor and sensory scoring, zone of partial preservation, and common classification errors.
The SCI Data Challenge v2.0 also connects directly to this work. Predicting full ISNCSCI results from an expedited exam version could change how quickly and accurately clinicians classify injuries in acute settings, which affects treatment decisions, clinical trial enrollment, and long-term outcome tracking.
Understanding SCI Classification from AIS A through AIS E
The ASIA Impairment Scale is the backbone of spinal cord injury classification worldwide. Every clinical trial enrollment decision, every prognostic conversation, and every rehabilitation goal-setting session starts with an AIS grade. NASCIC's deep dive into the ASIA Impairment Scale covers the full classification system, from complete motor and sensory loss at AIS A through normal function at AIS E, along with motor scoring, sensory dermatome mapping, zone of partial preservation, and the clinical decisions that hinge on accurate grading.
If you are attending the ISNCSCI Examination Training precourse on Thursday or working through the SCI Data Challenge v2.0 at this meeting, this resource pairs directly with both. It walks through the same classification framework that ASIA's own instructors teach and that the Data Challenge aims to streamline.
ASIA's 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting brought together the clinicians, researchers, and advocates shaping the future of spinal cord injury care. April 23–26, 2026 · Marriott San Antonio Rivercenter. Explore the highlights, findings, and resources above — and stay connected with NASCIC for ongoing SCI research coverage.
Accessibility: ASIA 2026 was hosted at the Marriott San Antonio Rivercenter, which offers ADA-compliant guest rooms and meeting spaces. For accessibility planning at future ASIA meetings, contact the ASIA office in advance.
