Early cardiometabolic changes in spinal cord injury patients

Patients with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) are at high-risk for cardiovascular diseases due to their changes in mobility and lifestyle. However, determinants of cardiovascular diseases and its respective disease mechanism has yet to be fully elucidated. This project aims to determine the dynamic changes in the cardiovascular-metabolic risk factors and the clinical profile of spinal cord injury patients, which eventually leads to a specific cardiometabolic disease, namely, diabetes, acute coronary disease, hypertension, obesity, and dyslipidemia. The project will also look into the changes in established and novel cardiovascular markers, across different periods, as it relates to cardiometabolic diseases. The results of this project will help optimize the screening for cardiovascular diseases and other secondary health problems in this high-risk population.

Keywords: spinal cord injury, cardiovascular risk, paraplegia, quadriplegia

Short Biography

Peter has a degree in Doctor of Medicine (University of the Philippines), and a specialization in Pediatrics (Philippine General Hospital). He also holds a Master's degree in Vaccinology and Molecular Biology from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Universiteit Antwerpen, and Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1. Before his transfer to Bern, he served as a researcher for the National Institutes of Health-University of the Philippines and Genetics, Vaccines, Infections and Pediatrics Research Group (GENVIPs)-Hospital Clinico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela. Furthermore, he served as a technical expert in vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization system for the Department of Health (Philippines) and the World Health Organization.

Peter Francis Raguindin
Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)
University of Bern

Personal Website
peter.raguindin@ispm.unibe.ch

Supervisor: Oscar Franco
Co-Supervisor: Taulant Muka