Spaulding Rehabilitation Awards Grant Funding to Two Studies Aimed at Finding Effective Treatments for Disorders of Consciousness
The Innovative Treatments in Disorders of Consciousness (ITDC) program provided two $400,000 grants to researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine to spur cutting-edge research and improve treatment options for people with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) who experience disorders of consciousness like coma
Spaulding Rehabilitation, a member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, has awarded two traumatic brain injury researchers $400,000 each to support their bold new studies that seek to better understand the mechanisms underlying disorders of consciousness, and identify effective treatments for them. The grants are the first to be awarded by Spaulding’s recently launched Innovative Treatments in Disorders of Consciousness (ITDC) program, in collaboration with the Curing Coma Campaign of the Neurocritical Care Society. The ITDC is a philanthropy-funded initiative that was created to provide seed grant funding for pilot projects aimed at advancing disruptive ideas in treating persons with disorders of consciousness.
The projects selected by a steering committee of leading neurocritical care experts following peer review by a panel of experts selected by the Consortia for Improving Medicine with Innovation and Technology (CIMIT) include:
- “A novel brain stimulation target for patients with disorders of consciousness” led by John Rolston, MD, PhD, director of the Mapping & Engineering Neural Dynamics (MEND) Laboratory Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of Mass General Brigham, and associate professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School
- “DECodIng endotype and PHEnotypes of Recovery from Coma (DECIPHER-COMA)” led by Chethan P. Venkatasubba Rao, MD, professor of neurology, neurosurgery and the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Encompassing a wide spectrum of clinical syndromes including coma, disorders of consciousness are caused by severe damage to brain circuits that regulate arousal and awareness. Estimates suggest that 42,000 people in the U.S. are in a coma and vegetative state, while up to 280,000 are in a minimally conscious state. There are currently no proven treatment options for preventing secondary effects of brain injuries. The need to address those limitations spurred the creation of the ITDC, which was established through the generosity of venture capitalist Scott Sandell.
“The clinical management of these complex conditions is fraught with challenges, from difficulties in diagnosis to a dearth of viable therapies,” says Joseph Giacino, PhD, director of Rehabilitation Neuropsychology at Spaulding, who co-directs ITDC with Craig Rovito, MD. “From the outset, ITDC has kicked off new collaborations, spawning novel projects with strong scientific underpinnings poised to accelerate the pace of DOC research and the delivery of effective new therapies.”
Advancing clinical care, research and advocacy is a core tenant to Spaulding, home to the Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System program, supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. Spaulding is the only site in the nation to be designated as a Model System for traumatic brain, spinal cord and burn injury simultaneously.
Rolston, who is also director of epilepsy surgery at the Brigham, is leading a study that will evaluate the safety and efficacy of applying noninvasive or invasive forms of electrical stimulation to a so-called “sweet spot” deep within the brains’ thalamus, that has been previously identified as a potential treatment target due to it overlapping arousal fibers and being functionally connected to the cortical network. Studying this region more closely and testing different electrical stimulation interventions may one day lead to promising new treatment options.
Rao’s DECIPHER-COMA project seeks to identify unknown biomarkers of coma recovery, in an effort to create a roadmap for recovery that can fill current knowledge gaps within the field of neurocritical care. The researchers plan to utilize cutting edge techniques, including machine learning and AI, to review enrolled patients’ electronic health records and find new markers and patterns that can deepen their understanding of coma recovery. The hope is that in the future, this roadmap can serve as an adaptable platform that powers clinical trials of coma treatments.
Both projects are expected to kick off this spring and will take place over a maximum of two years.
For more information:
- Innovative Treatments in Disorders of Consciousness Grant Program
- Disorders of Consciousness - Spaulding Rehabilitation
About Spaulding Rehabilitation
A member of the Mass General Brigham Health System, Spaulding Rehabilitation includes Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, with a main campus in Charlestown the 2nd ranked in the nation for rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report, along with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cambridge, Spaulding Rehabilitation Nursing and Therapy Center Brighton, and over 25 outpatient sites throughout Eastern Massachusetts. An acclaimed teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and home to the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding is recognized as a top residency program in the U.S. in the Doximity Residency Navigator. Spaulding also was recognized by the 2023 Disability Equality Index as a “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion.” For more information, visit www.spauldingrehab.org.
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