2019 Rolex Awards For Enterprise Laureate Grégoire Courtine has dedicated his career to finding a lasting cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury (SCI). Courtine is working towards a day when it will be possible for someone to be admitted to hospital with paralysis after an SCI, receive treatment, and walk out a few weeks later.

“I LIVE WITH THIS OBSESSION, THIS RESTLESSNESS.UNTIL A CURE IS ACHIEVED, I WILL NEVER STOP.”
Grégoire Courtine, Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate andCo-Director of .Neurorestore

PIONEERING NEW MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
In 2019, Courtine received a Rolex Award for Enterprise for his idea to create a spinal implant that could connect to the wearer’s brain via a “digital bridge”, which he has been developing with his research partner, neurosurgeon Jocelyn Bloch. The digital bridge is made up of two implants, one on the part of the brain associated with movement, and another on the spine, below the injury. The first records electrical signals generated by the brain and sends it to the second, bridging the gap and allowing patients to stimulate movements through thought alone.

“OUR SPINAL CORD IS LIKE A HIGHWAY, AND AFTER A SPINAL CORD INJURY, THIS HIGHWAY IS INTERRUPTED. THE BRAIN IS STILL ACTIVE, IT WANTS TO GIVE SIGNALS, BUT THESE SIGNALS ARE INTERRUPTED AT THE LEVEL OF THE INJURY. WE HAVE CREATED A DIGITAL BRIDGE TO RECONNECT THE BRAIN AND THE SPINAL CORD WITH ELECTRICAL RECORDINGS AND STIMULATION.”
Jocelyne Bloch, Neurosurgeon and Co-Director of .Neurorestore

By 2022, Courtine and Bloch were ready to implant their device with the help of a previous patient of theirs, Gert-Jan Oskam, who immediately volunteered to be their test pilot. Back in 2011, Oskam was working as a logistics co-ordinator in China when he was involved in a serious cycling accident.

When he woke up in hospital, doctors told him he would never walk again. Despite what he was told, Oskam remained defiantly hopeful.

“THEY TOLD ME, ‘IT’S CLEAR THAT YOU WILL NEVER WALK AGAIN.’ I NEVER ACCEPTED THAT ANSWER.”
Gert-Jan Oskam, implanted with digital bridge between his brain and his spinal cord

The operation was a success. Within minutes the digital bridge enabled Oskam to control an avatar of his body on a computer using mental cues. Within a few days, he was able to move his legs.

“IT WAS ONE OF THOSE RARE MOMENTS IN SCIENCE WHERE YOU WITNESS A BREAKTHROUGH HAPPENING BEFORE YOUR EYES.”
Grégoire Courtine, Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate and Co-Director of .Neurorestore

THE FUTURE OF PARALYSIS TREATMENT
Courtine’s first breakthrough was the Epidural Electrical Stimulation (EES), an implant that delivers electrical pulses to patients’ spinal cords below the injury to stimulate movement. Courtine and Bloch observed that the implant not only granted patients instant mobility, but that continued use actually compounded the improvement, as damaged spinal neurons began to repair themselves.

While the results of the EES were remarkable, they weren’t enough for Courtine. The EES requires patients to press a button to signal the implant on their spine, manually stimulating their legs for each step they wanted to take. For Courtine, this simply was not fluid, or “natural” enough. That’s what drove him to develop the digital bridge, which could literally “convert thoughts into action.”

To Courtine, “the next breakthrough” will be to combine the repair of nerve fibres seen in users of the EES with the digital bridge, to help patients fully regain the movement they lost. He hopes that, spurred on by his Rolex Award, his team will be able to refine the technology and make it affordable and convenient enough to be available to people with SCI around the world.

“THE WHOLE TEAM FELT EMPOWERED BY RECEIVING THE ROLEX AWARD FOR ENTERPRISE. THE FACT THAT A JURY OF EXPERTS BELIEVED IN OUR WORK; IT ENERGIZED US. WE FELT EMBOLDENED TO PUSH FORWARD, FURTHER INTO THE UNKNOWN.”
Grégoire Courtine, Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate and Co-Director of .Neurorestore

In the meantime, the breakthroughs have not let up. Recently, the EES has also been found to be highly effective in the treatment of patients who have suffered strokes and those with Parkinson’s. With the support of Rolex, Courtine and Bloch inch closer to their dream of a world in which paralysis caused by SCI is a treatable condition.

ABOUT THE PERPETUAL PLANET INITIATIVE
For nearly a century, Rolex has supported pioneering explorers pushing back the boundaries of human endeavour. The company has moved from championing exploration for the sake of discovery to protecting the planet, committing for the long term to support individuals and organizations using science to understand and devise solutions to today’s environmental challenges.

This engagement was reinforced with the launch of the Perpetual Planet Initiative in 2019, which initially focused on the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, as well as long-standing partnerships with Mission Blue and National Geographic Society.

The initiative now has more than 20 other partnerships in an expanding portfolio. They include, for example, Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, offspring organizations of Tompkins Conservation, the Under The Pole expeditions, the Monaco Blue Initiative, and Coral Gardeners.

Rolex also supports organizations and initiatives fostering the next generations of explorers, scientists and conservationists through scholarships and grants, such as Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society and The Rolex Explorers Club Grants.