Dr Kamile Minkelyte

Dr. Kamile Minkelyte completed her PhD in the Spinal Repair Unit within the Department of Translational Neuroscience and Stroke, supported by Raisman’s PhD scholarships from NSIF. Her doctoral work focused on developing strategies to enhance limited cell yields and integrating them with advanced biomaterials to treat spinal cord injuries. Now playing a major role in the Unit, she is instrumental in driving the research toward clinical translation. Her recent pivotal study demonstrated that transplanting banked rat olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) within a collagen gel can restore lost neurological function. The next critical phase of her work will focus on testing banked human OECs, representing a major step forward for potential clinical applications.