Dr. Mikol received a B.S. in Chemistry from Loyola University of Chicago and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study immunology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany. He obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. and completed his internship at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. His Ph.D. work in Molecular Biology/Pathology was carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Kári Stefánsson (now CEO, deCODE Genetics). Dr. Mikol’s graduate and postgraduate work focused on the discovery and biochemical characterization of the oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein (OMgp), an inhibitor of neurite outgrowth and ligand for the Nogo receptor. Dr. Mikol completed his Neurology residency at the University of California, San Francisco, and fellowship in the Department of Neurology at the University of Michigan, joining the University of Michigan as faculty. Dr. Mikol rose to the level of Associate Professor before leaving academics in 2008 to pursue an industry career in neuroscience clinical development. He has held senior positions developing small molecules and biologics in various neurological indications at EMD Serono, Novartis, Biogen and Amgen, and has had success in achieving global regulatory approvals. At Amgen, Dr. Mikol was Head of Neuroscience Development. In 2021, Dr. Mikol joined NervGen as Chief Medical Officer to lead the development of NVG-291 in spinal cord injury. NVG-291 is a peptide-mimetic of protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma (a receptor for chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans).

Dr. Michael Fehlings, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS is the Vice Chair Research for the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto and a Neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. Dr. Fehlings is a Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto, holds the Robert Campeau Family Foundation / Dr. C.H. Tator Chair in Brain and Spinal Cord Research at UHN, and is a Senior Scientist at the Krembil Brain Institute. In the fall of 2008, Dr. Fehlings was appointed the inaugural Director of the University of Toronto Neuroscience Program (which he held until June 2012) and is currently Co-Director of the University of Toronto Spine Program. Dr. Fehlings combines an active clinical practice in complex spinal surgery with a translationally oriented research program focused on discovering novel treatments to improve functional outcomes following spinal cord injury (SCI).

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Ashraf S. Gorgey, MPT, PhD, FACSM, FACRM is the Director of SCI Research at the Richmond VA Medical Center and Professor of PM&R at VCU. He is the Director of the Virginia Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Consortium and the Chair of American Congress of Rehab. Medicine (ACRM) FES and technology task force. His work is investigating rehabilitation strategies that could improve quality of life after SCI, minimize health-related complications and understanding the cellular adaptations to unloading and hypertrophy. His studies examined the effects of electrical stimulation and testosterone therapy on parameters of physical activity including body composition, metabolic profile, and mitochondrial health. He is studying the applications of exoskeleton with and without neuromodulation techniques including epidural stimulation and trans-spinal stimulation on motor recovery. The work is by funded Department of Veteran Affairs, Department of Defense and SCI model system. Dr. Gorgey has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and presented nationally as well as internationally in different scientific meetings.