DEDICATION
 This resource is dedicated to the people of Iceland, who adopted the cure of spinal cord injury, one of mankind’s most devastating disorders, as a human-rights issue. Because Iceland’s support of this cause has the potential to help so many throughout the world yet relatively few of its own citizens, it represents a standard by which a society is judged. Instead of force that is so commonly used in today’s world of geopolitical self interest, Iceland is employing power, whose impact will be much more enduring.
Laurance Johnston, Ph.D.
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Laurance Johnston with
former Iceland President
Vigdis Finnbogadottir
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The Author
Laurance Johnston obtained his masters and doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from Northwestern University (Illinois). His Ph.D. research focused on the mechanism of action of various antibiotics, including vancomycin, an antibiotic of last resort in resistant infections. While later working at the Chicago Medical School, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Damon Runyon/Walter Winchell Cancer Foundation. He later obtained a MBA degree from George Mason University in Virginia.
Dr. Johnston became a regulatory scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and later Director, Division of Scientific Review, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (NIH). After leaving NIH, he assumed the directorship of the Spinal Cord Research and Education Foundations, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).
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Dr. Laurance Johnston
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Supported by PVA and now by the Icelandic government, Dr. Johnston has written extensively on various therapies that expand the healing spectrum of people with spinal cord injury. He has been invited to speak at national and international meetings and is listed in
Who’s Who in America and
Who’s Who in the World .