Christopher Reeve's life was drastically altered five years ago after the actor fell from a horse and became paralyzed from the neck down. Today, Reeve's chances of a partial if not full recovery remain better than ever.

Reeve has played an important role in furthering spinal cord research. He has testified before Congress to petition more funding and also holds a variety of speaking engagements, such as tonight in The Bryce Jordan Center.

The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation was established in 1999, with Reeve serving as chairman of the board. Its mission is to support research for treating and eventually curing paralysis, as well as other neurological disorders such as Parkinson's Disease.

"He has been an inspirational model nationally and internationally and has raised the visibility of not only spinal cord injury but various neurological disorders," said Dr. Ira Black, professor and chairman of the department of neuroscience and cell biology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Maggie Friedman, director of communications at the CRPF, agrees.

"He's really put a face on spinal cord injury. He's publicly reminded each of us that we're all vulnerable to injury or disease," Friedman said.

Friedman describes Reeve as one who wants to help the average person. Reeve is aware of Penn State football player Adam Taliaferro's recent spinal cord injury, and plans to write him a letter.

Black explains one spinal cord repair technique labs have been researching, partly financed by funds raised by the CRPF.

"Within the spinal cord," Black said, "there appears to be an inability of the nerves to re-grow."

Unlike a wound to the skin or most other parts of the body, which heal rapidly by regeneration, most spinal cord nerves will not regenerate themselves after an injury. Experiments on animals have shown that replacing these cells with those of human embryos or fetuses may allow nerves within the spinal cord to successfully grow again. Black says that his labs have focused on taking adult bone marrow cells for transplant, which eliminates some of the ethical concerns involved with embryos and fetuses.

Maria Amador, program coordinator for information and referral at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, describes another regeneration technique, the "bridging approach." It involves transplanting cells to the damaged area of the spine and reconnecting it with a literal bridge of cells, which would help nerves regain function.

Miami Project labs have been testing treatments only on animals, but expect to eventually begin experiments on human subjects.

At The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in California, researchers have discovered that certain brain cells, after some manipulation, may be capable of dividing when placed in the spinal cord. Salk researchers have also experimented with skin cell grafts.

"We've learned more, we've seen more, we understand more than we knew 10 and 20 years ago," said Amador. "The work continues to go on. Little by little we'll be learning more about what may be helpful."

Many scientists shy away from using the term "cure" in describing paralysis research. Friedman said people in wheelchairs will not simply stand up and walk. First, they will be able to regain a small amount of movement, such as in a finger. But optimism remains strong.

"There's no question that we've made immense progress just over the last ten years," Black said. "Ten years ago it was unthinkable there could be any improvement. There is hope, although it does lie in the future."

The Distinguished Speaker Series will present Reeve tonight at 8 p.m. in The Bryce Jordan Center. Tickets are free and available at the Eisenhower Auditorium box office on a first come, first serve basis.