Brain Injury Lawyer

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in August 2007 funding of the Mount Sinai Injury Control Research Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City. This new center will conduct research on persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to better understand the consequences of injury and the needs of injured people, with the aim of enhancing quality of life.

Mount Sinai’s is one of several CDC Injury Control Research Centers, which are located at universities throughout the U.S. and that integrate scientists from a wide spectrum of disciplines to study how to prevent and control injuries more effectively. In addition each ICRC provides technical assistance to injury prevention and control programs within its geographic region.

Amongst the many centers across the U.S., the Mount Sinai ICRC will be unique, as its sole focus will be on TBI, unlike the other centers, which aim their activities at many types of disability. The emphasis on TBI is in recognition of the large number of people who sustain permanent disability annually. CDC estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans, about 2% of the population, sustain lifelong challenges in daily living as a result of TBI. The Mount Sinai ICRC is also taking an unusual path for a center, in that it will focus not on primary prevention, in which the idea is to prevent injuries from happening in the first place. Instead, it will concern itself with “secondary” prevention –  to find better ways to prevent problems from occurring after the initial injury. For example, many people with TBI experience mood problems after injury, and one of Mount Sinai’s research projects will study how to treat that problem if it occurs or prevent it from happening at all – trying to halt one part of the cascade of negative events that often follows brain injury.

“We are pleased to add the Mount Sinai ICRC and their TBI expertise to the diversity of CDC’s ICRC’s. We believe the research they are undertaking will lead to richer, fuller lives for the millions of Americans who are living with TBI.” said Dr. Ileana Arias, Director of CDC’s Injury Center. She went on to say that “connecting research to communities is a primary focus for CDC and we are pleased that Mount Sinai’s ICRC is now part of this critical research network. We hope that their work in TBI will fill a critical gap and can help shape a better understanding of improving the lives of those affected.”

Mount Sinai plans four TBI research projects; they will:

    * Evaluate the validity of the Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire to better determine its utility in screening for unidentified TBI – for finding people who have had an injury in the past but have never linked current problems in functioning to the injury (as often happens as a result of childhood injuries, sports injuries and abuse/assault)
    * Evaluate the I-CAN, a new method for identifying perceived needs of individuals with TBI
    * Conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the impact of aerobic exercise on the mood and cognitive functioning of individuals with TBI
    * Conduct an RCT to evaluate the impact of an intensive, short-term day program for individuals with TBI, focused on improving complex cognitive functioning and the person’s ability to pay attention

Through CDC’s work with ICRCs, each university’s curriculum also fosters comprehensive programs for training. At the Mount Sinai ICRC, a program for training pre- and post-doctoral researchers is planned, as are efforts to shape the curriculum within Mount Sinai School of Medicine to better address injury control and prevention objectives.  A website, educational materials for individuals with TBI, as well as professionally oriented dissemination are all planned as means of effecting prevention of post-TBI secondary disability

 
For more information about CDC’s ICRC program, visit www.cdc.gov/injury. For information about Mount Sinai’s ICRC, visit www.tbicentral.org.