• Press Release

National Grant Awarded to Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to Continue the New York Traumatic Brain Injury Model System

  • NEW YORK, NY
  • (October 17, 2017)

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) has awarded the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Brain Injury Research Center a five-year grant totaling $2.2 million to fund the New York Traumatic Brain Injury Model System at Mount Sinai to study traumatic brain injury (TBI).  

NIDILRR awards TBI Model Systems grants to 16 institutions in the United States that are national leaders in research and clinical care for TBI. TBI Model System centers provide the highest level of comprehensive clinical care and multidisciplinary rehabilitation for individuals with TBI from the point of injury through community re-entry. 

The grant will fund the work of researchers from the Brain Injury Research Center at Mount Sinai who will contribute to the largest study of TBI outcomes in the world, curated by the NIDILRR-funded TBI Model Systems National Data and Statistical Center. Together, the TBI Model Systems have enrolled over 15,000 individuals with TBI and followed them over time for up to 25 years. Under this award, the Brain Injury Research Center at Mount Sinai will test the effectiveness of an internet-delivered neurobehavioral intervention to improve emotional regulation after TBI, and will continue its research on the long-term neurocognitive effects of TBI. The New York TBI Model System also provides information and resources to individuals with TBI, their families, health care providers, and the general public.

“This award recognizes the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and our Brain Injury Research Center as one of the premier centers for the treatment and research of traumatic brain injuries,” says Joseph E. Herrera, DO, System Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine..  “Even more importantly, this is recognition of our commitment to discover treatments that will maximize functioning quality of life for those living with TBI and their families.”

Established in 1987, the Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai has conducted research that has greatly expanded the medical community’s understanding of the long-term challenges of living with TBI and the best approaches to leading better lives after injury. 

“Thanks to the ongoing support of the NIDILRR, our researchers have the opportunity to continue advancing scientific knowledge about the challenges faced by those who sustain a traumatic brain injury, to test innovative new treatment methods, and help improve the health and well-being of our patients,” says Kristen Dams-O’Connor, PhD, Director of The Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai and Project Director of the New York TBI Model System.  “Our work will benefit our patients here in New York, but will also stretch beyond our state borders, as the knowledge gained through this project will be shared with clinicians and researchers worldwide.”


About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. The Health System includes approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, a school of nursing, and schools of medicine and graduate school of biomedical sciences.  

As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.  

Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York and recognized as one of the world’s top Smart Hospital by Newsweek. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research. 

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