Nicole Tester
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida and Brain Rehab Research Center, Malcom Randall VAMC
PhD, Biomedical Sciences (Neuroscience concentration), University of Florida
BS, Chemistry, Millikin University, Magna Cum Laude

Student Profile:
Nicole Tester was trained as a basic scientist and received her BS in Chemistry from Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and joined the IDP program at the University of Florida in 1999. During her dissertation she investigated the anatomical and behavioral correlates underlying recovery of function after spinal cord injury. In addition, she examined the potential of Chondroitinase ABC to enhance the recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury in the adult cat. Nicole graduated with her PhD in the summer of 2006 and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Florida and the Brain Rehab Research Center of Excellence at the North Florida/South Georgia Malcom Randall VAMC. Her exposure to clinical researchers in the training program motivated her to join the Human Locomotor Training Laboratory directed by Dr. Andrea Behrman. As a postdoctoral fellow she investigates the effect of arm swing during locomotion after spinal cord injury. She also collaborates with ongoing studies in Dr. Andrea Behrman’s laboratory which examine the integrity of neural substrates and their relationship to locomotor recovery following spinal cord injury. Nicole is currently funded in her postdoctoral fellowship through the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and a VA Career Development Award.

Research Project Description:
Degeneration, axonal damage, and the lack of regeneration associated with injury of the adult mammalian spinal cord result in a significant loss of sensory and motor control below the level of the lesion. Studies described in Nicole Tester’s dissertation take advantage of the cat’s complex locomotor ability to assess the effects of low thoracic hemisection on recovery of both basic and skilled motor behaviors, as well as the therapeutic potential of Chondroitinase ABC (Ch’ase ABC). Following injury, adult cats show considerable motor recovery in both postural and hindlimb control. In spite of this considerable recovery, specific, quantifiable deficits persisted. Postural control was less stable and hindlimb joint synergies remained affected over the five-month period studied. In addition, the accuracy and precision of hindlimb movements were significantly compromised during skilled forms of locomotion. These deficits were permanent and linked to the inability of damaged axons to regenerate. This lack of regeneration has been in part attributed to the dense, astroglial scar that forms at the injury site. One large group of molecules associated with the scar, and implicated in the inhibition of growth, is the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs). Enzymatic disruption of sugar side chains (glycosaminoglycans) residing on CSPGS with Ch’ase ABC appears to attenuate this inhibition in vitro and in a handful of recent studies using rodent models of SCI. Nicole characterized the thermostability of Ch’ase ABC at body temperature and assessed its therapeutic potential in the cat. Her data suggest that Ch’ase ABC is unstable at body temperature, and that repeated applications of enzyme enhance the recovery of several locomotor features.

Award and Honors
2008 Postdoctoral Fellowship Travel Award, Neuromuscular Plasticity Symposium, University of Florida
2006 Bronze Medal, Medical Guild Graduate Student Research Competition, University of Florida
2006 1st Place, Neuroscience Concentration, Medical Guild, Graduate Student Research Competition
2003 National Neurotrauma Society Travel Grant supported by NIH
2003 SouthEast Nerve Net Poster Award for Excellence (Southeast regional competition)
2001 AccuScan Travel Fellowship, Honorable Mention (National competition)

Quote from Nicole Tester on how she benefited from participation in the Training Program: “As a basic scientist and NMPT T32 trainee, I have had the unique opportunity to help bridge the clinical and basic sciences in an environment that has encouraged and fostered interdisciplinary interactions focused on neurorehabilitation and translational research. The annual symposiums featuring distinguished speakers, seminar series highlighting clinical and basic research, and the summer student data discussions have been some of the primary events sponsored by the training grant, which have promoted scientific relationships and collaborations across multiple disciplines. Together, these are just a few examples of experiences, which have provided me with a foundation for approaching, interpreting, and understanding diseases and disorders of the nervous system and ways in which recovery and plasticity might be promoted. This opportunity has been invaluable to my scientific career and has ultimately led me to pursue a post-doctoral position in a clinical research laboratory focused on locomotor training. In this position, I continue to work with clinical researchers and use my knowledge of spinal cord injury and locomotor control in animal models to merge our understanding of injury, plasticity, and the potential for recovery to benefit the human population.”

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