A world-renowned neurorehabilitation and research hospital for people with brain and spinal cord injury (SCI) has secured further funding to serve as a Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) centre.
Craig Hospital becomes one of only two specialist centres in the United States to be continuously funded as an SCIMS since 1974 and enables it to advance its pioneering work further still.
The five-year, $2.4million grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) provides funding for Craig to conduct research that assesses the long-term outcomes of people who have sustained SCI.
Craig’s findings contribute to the National SCI Model Systems database, which has been in existence since 1973, while also proposing and participating in collaborative research studies focused on improving outcomes for individuals who have sustained SCI.
Throughout the course of the grant cycle, Craig has identified a number of objectives, including investigating the efficacy of various approaches to improve upper extremity function and trunk stability among individuals after cervical SCI and the evaluation of oral health status among the US SCI population.
The latest funding announcement is further endorsement of the world-leading work being done at Craig, which has been a pioneer in neurorehabilitation since 1956 and delivers stellar outcomes and a renewed view on what is possible in life to patients at its 93-bed facility in Colorado.
“We are extremely proud to have received this competitive grant from the NIDILRR yet again, as it designates Craig as both a clinical and a research centre of excellence,” said Candy Tefertiller, executive director of research and evaluation at Craig Hospital.
“Our team recognises the benefit of this grant every day, as we strive to translate our research findings to clinical care within our hospital, with the goal of improving the lives of our patients who have sustained SCI while also contributing knowledge to the greater field of SCI rehabilitation.”
There are 14 SCI Model Systems throughout the US, making up the largest network of research centres devoted to SCI in the world.
These centres collaborate on research and share knowledge and data that helps inform clinical treatment and rehabilitation.
As part of the designation, centres must have a comprehensive clinical service delivery program for patients who have sustained SCI in addition to the research component.
