The need for VA leadership in advancing traumatic brain injury care

ABSTRACT

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) afflicts veterans, active duty service members and the civilian community. An estimated 5.3 million US men, women, and children live with a permanent TBI-related disability. There is no cure for TBI, and the discovery of new and effective treatments is complicated by the fact that TBI is multifaceted and varies from individual to individual. Due to its established research centers, wealth of veteran health data, and commitment to veteran health, the VA should be considered a natural leader for expanded TBI research.

KEYWORDS:

• traumatic brain injury
• Veterans Affairs
• research
• technologies

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance provided by Ms Nicole Draghic, who helped in the preparation and research of this article.

Declaration of Interest

Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins, Professor of Neurology, USUHS, Interim Vice-Chair for Research, Inova Neuroscience and Spine Institute, Inova Fairfax Hospital,

NFL Health Foundation (volunteer Board member), NFLPA Mackey-White Health Committee (volunteer Committee member), Brainscope (volunteer scientific advisor), SAMUS Therapeutics (scientific advisor), Facebook B8 (Board member), KnoLimits, LLC (partner), SunQ, LLC (partner), DrsGSLing, LLC (partner).