DVBIC supports a multi-center network of military treatment facilities and Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. The mission of the Research Division at DVBIC is to support researchers in this network in developing and conducting clinical investigations in traumatic brain injury (TBI). DVBIC’s extensive internal and external collaborations allow for clinical innovation and research along the entire continuum of care of TBI: from initial injury, whether in-theatre or outside of theater, through medical evacuation to acute and post-acute medical settings, rehabilitation, and ultimately a return to family, community and work or continued duty.
Clinical Research Goals & Objectives
- Investigate the efficacy of interventions in preventing and/or treating the effects of TBI
- Conduct research across the entire range of TBI severity levels (mild, moderate and severe) in both the military and veteran populations
- Develop and conduct epidemiological studies regarding the incidence of TBI, as well as unmet needs of TBI survivors and their caregivers
- Conduct imaging studies in order to determine the pathophysiological effects of TBI, and the physiological basis of treatment interventions, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI); functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); magnetoencephalography (MEG); and positron emission tomography (PET)