Center for Brain Health
WE TREAT THE WHOLE VETERAN
Tulane University is at an all-time high. Our Only the Audacious comprehensive campaign has been a resounding success. As we surpassed our original goal, we recognized that we must seize the unstoppable momentum of this historic campaign and use it to powerfully propel our research enterprise forward. One area of research and patient care that offers particular promise is the Tulane University Center for Brain Health. This focus offers the potential to improve patient outcomes, lower healthcare costs and further demonstrate Tulane’s excellence to the wider medical community.
According to a recent study, traumatic brain injury contributed to an estimated 224,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths in 2017 alone. In the United States, TBI was diagnosed in approximately 2 percent of total emergency visits, hospitalizations and deaths. Worldwide, more than 55 million people experience a mild TBI incident with more than 5.5 million suffering a more severe incident annually. Yet a recent Journal of the American Medical Association piece concluded that TBI is often “unrecognized, misclassified and untreated.”
The need for dedicated research, compassionate patient care and strategic planning is real, and at the Tulane University Center for Brain Health (TUCBH) we have the capacity to stand as leaders in fulfilling that need. Our focus is currently on veterans who may have experienced physical and other forms of trauma during their service. When they come to Tulane, we put our interdisciplinary skill set to work, linking them with a core team of specialists including a nurse, case manager, social worker, family therapist and other licensed caregivers.
At TUCBH, we treat the whole veteran through a suite of comprehensive multidisciplinary care. Our process begins with a three-day evaluation process at the Tulane Medical Center where veterans meet the care team and participate in one-on-one evaluations with specialists. This process is an intensive one, utilizing a wide range of medical equipment and incorporating an array of experts in such fields as psychology, nutrition and pharmacy to design a bespoke plan that addresses the complex needs of each veteran. At the close of the assessment, the individualized treatment plan can be administered by the individual’s care team or through Tulane’s Intensive Outpatient Treatment program.
Our work centers on addressing the particular health challenges of veterans. In doing so, we work to accelerate transformational discoveries that will not only help the population we currently serve but can be applied to other populations as well. Our work has implications that stretch the breadth of society. TUCBH is situated within the Tulane Center for Sport and our research has important implications for concussions gained during sports participation as well as to such areas as head trauma in older adults, skull fractures from automobile accidents and a wide array of other neurotraumas.
Our team has hundreds of combined years of clinical, scientific, policy and industry experience and is well-positioned to design, implement and conduct large scale multi-dimensional projects.
Giving Opportunities
Flexible Gifts to the Center for Brain Health
Your gift would provide critical support for TUCBH’s important work. Our program accepts veterans with a TBI regardless of their discharge status, health insurance coverage, whether they have a formal diagnosis and regardless of how their injury occurred. Patients receive an array of life-changing therapies while at TUCBH but those therapies are not billable or reimbursable for Tulane. Gifts in support of TUCBH will allow us to continue to provide veterans with medical care, trained staff, housing during the program and access to therapy. Your commitment can be flexibly structured as a one-time or a recurring gift.
Equipment and Imaging
Due to its nature, TBI care calls for extensive imaging to provide accurate measurements of structure, biochemistry, metabolism and tissue function of patients. We currently use the imaging capabilities of the hospital, but such use is limited and works against the overall sustainability of the program. Gifts in support of acquiring imaging equipment will make the program more seamless for participants and allow us to conduct meaningful research in-house.
Nutrition and Culinary Support
The Metabolic and Nutrition Core at Tulane University Center for Sport develops and produces controlled food for patients. Staffed by a registered dietitian, this is an important aspect of TUCBH’s research and patient care. We know how important nutrition is to overall health, and our nutrition study would benefit greatly from establishing a teaching kitchen where we could both serve patients and train them in the techniques and principles that would support their health at home.
Endow Center Director
Directors provide strategic vision and leadership. Your gift naming a directorship for the Center for Brain Health will provide support for a highly qualified scientist and administrator. The director would bring leadership experience and expertise to establishing a comprehensive vision for the center that includes advancing scientific goals and managing a complex organization. With their demonstrated commitment to patient care and passion for innovative research, directors set the tone, develop the pathways and establish the structure that could allow the Center for Brain Health to become the gold standard for TBI care and research.
Endow the Center for Brain Health
Your naming gift would be instrumental in elevating and sustaining the work of the Center for Brain Health. Your generosity would give the Center for Brain Health the stable foundation needed to provide continued support for our veterans. This gift would be critical for the long-term sustainability of our program, providing a wide array of therapies to our patients and offering important opportunities for impactful research. Your name would be tied with an initiative that would improve the lives of veterans and elevate Tulane’s stature as an institution of progressive research.
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