thedrifter
05-15-09, 07:34 AM
S.C. researchers get $1.5M federal contract from DoD to study brain injury
By Molly Parker
mparker@scbiznews.com
Published May 14, 2009
S.C. researchers will join a national team of experts in an attempt to find a treatment for the post-traumatic stress disorders and traumatic brain injuries common in soldiers and Marines returning from war.
The S.C. Research Authority, Medical University of South Carolina and University of South Carolina, in conjunction with other state partners, have been jointly selected by the U.S. Department of Defense as one of 10 national clinical consortium study sites, SCRA announced Wednesday.
SCRA’s announcement about the program came two days after an American shot and killed five fellow soldiers at a counseling center in Baghdad. That event has drawn even more attention to mental disorders that could result from war-related stress, as the battle in Iraq hits six years and the fighting in Afghanistan stretches into an eighth year.
“Traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder are two signature injuries from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Dr. Mark George, the lead researcher on brain injuries at MUSC. “Congress decided the area has been neglected too long.”
George is working on a separate venture with Force Protection, the Ladson maker of war-vehicles, to help research components, such as seats and helmets, to help minimize the physical damage to the brain that can be caused by a massive jolt to the body, such as an explosive detonating underneath a vehicle.
The initial contract for the federal program was for about $1.5 million, for the establishment of the state program and for salaries. Further research dollars are expected later, said Rob Davis, SCRA’s program manager for the study and the executive director of the organization’s Nutrition Research Consortium.
In total, Davis said the Department of Defense is expected to spend $600 million on the program, with about half earmarked for research and the other half for treatment programs.
“Certainly it’s a huge problem for the nation, and it’s a huge problem for the military,” Davis said. “For us in South Carolina to be in the company of the other nine study sites is a major accomplishment.”
In this partnership, the S.C. team joins researchers at Duke University, Dartmouth College, a rehabilitation hospital affiliated with Harvard University, and the University of California, San Diego, among others.
Davis said the funding represents an understanding by the federal government and among the research partners that serious brain injuries — and accompanying mental illnesses — plaguing men and women serving in war zones deserve the time and money it takes to discover a breakthrough.
George has submitted two proposals for clinical trials as part of the new program, and two researchers with USC’s psychology department have submitted one each. Once the proposals from researchers across the nation are winnowed, the trial programs will be assigned to the 10 clinical consortiums that are part of the program.
“Selfishly, for the state, it allows South Carolinians to participate in cutting-edge ideas and to have access to these things before they are out and about,” George said. “And it allows us to be part of this national movement and to be abreast of all these important happenings.”
In addition to SCRA and the research universities, George said the S.C. team also includes other partners, including the Veterans Affairs hospitals in Columbia and Charleston.
The partners in the program are:
University of California, San Diego.
University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Uniformed Services, University of the Health Sciences.
The Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, affiliated with Harvard University.
Dartmouth College.
University of Washington.
University of Cincinnati.
Duke University.
Madigan Army Medical Center.
S.C. Research Authority.
Reach Molly Parker at 843-849-3144.
Ellie
By Molly Parker
mparker@scbiznews.com
Published May 14, 2009
S.C. researchers will join a national team of experts in an attempt to find a treatment for the post-traumatic stress disorders and traumatic brain injuries common in soldiers and Marines returning from war.
The S.C. Research Authority, Medical University of South Carolina and University of South Carolina, in conjunction with other state partners, have been jointly selected by the U.S. Department of Defense as one of 10 national clinical consortium study sites, SCRA announced Wednesday.
SCRA’s announcement about the program came two days after an American shot and killed five fellow soldiers at a counseling center in Baghdad. That event has drawn even more attention to mental disorders that could result from war-related stress, as the battle in Iraq hits six years and the fighting in Afghanistan stretches into an eighth year.
“Traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder are two signature injuries from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Dr. Mark George, the lead researcher on brain injuries at MUSC. “Congress decided the area has been neglected too long.”
George is working on a separate venture with Force Protection, the Ladson maker of war-vehicles, to help research components, such as seats and helmets, to help minimize the physical damage to the brain that can be caused by a massive jolt to the body, such as an explosive detonating underneath a vehicle.
The initial contract for the federal program was for about $1.5 million, for the establishment of the state program and for salaries. Further research dollars are expected later, said Rob Davis, SCRA’s program manager for the study and the executive director of the organization’s Nutrition Research Consortium.
In total, Davis said the Department of Defense is expected to spend $600 million on the program, with about half earmarked for research and the other half for treatment programs.
“Certainly it’s a huge problem for the nation, and it’s a huge problem for the military,” Davis said. “For us in South Carolina to be in the company of the other nine study sites is a major accomplishment.”
In this partnership, the S.C. team joins researchers at Duke University, Dartmouth College, a rehabilitation hospital affiliated with Harvard University, and the University of California, San Diego, among others.
Davis said the funding represents an understanding by the federal government and among the research partners that serious brain injuries — and accompanying mental illnesses — plaguing men and women serving in war zones deserve the time and money it takes to discover a breakthrough.
George has submitted two proposals for clinical trials as part of the new program, and two researchers with USC’s psychology department have submitted one each. Once the proposals from researchers across the nation are winnowed, the trial programs will be assigned to the 10 clinical consortiums that are part of the program.
“Selfishly, for the state, it allows South Carolinians to participate in cutting-edge ideas and to have access to these things before they are out and about,” George said. “And it allows us to be part of this national movement and to be abreast of all these important happenings.”
In addition to SCRA and the research universities, George said the S.C. team also includes other partners, including the Veterans Affairs hospitals in Columbia and Charleston.
The partners in the program are:
University of California, San Diego.
University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Uniformed Services, University of the Health Sciences.
The Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, affiliated with Harvard University.
Dartmouth College.
University of Washington.
University of Cincinnati.
Duke University.
Madigan Army Medical Center.
S.C. Research Authority.
Reach Molly Parker at 843-849-3144.
Ellie