From My Desk

Greetings,

An estimated 64 million adults in the U.S. have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and millions more have experienced brain injury as a result of a stroke, tumor, oxygen loss, or overdose. It’s a complicated and dynamic disease process – no two brain injuries are alike, and no two individuals will have the same brain injury journey – making research for treatment and cures equally complicated.

Our community is fortunate to have dedicated experts and researchers committed to understanding the long-term effects of brain injury. A crown jewel in our national brain injury research efforts is the TBI Model Systems program, a network of 16 medical facilities funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. In addition to conducting innovative, high quality research – including the largest longitudinal TBI data set in the world – the TBI Model Systems provide patient care and offer other services to improve the health and quality of life for individuals with TBI.

Yet there’s an argument to be made that funding for brain injury research is not on par with its prevalence – or its impact on a person’s life. In 2024, federal funding for TBI research was a reported $201 million – that’s $3.14 per person affected by TBI. Less than the price of a cup of coffee.

But rather than adequately funding brain injury research, we are seeing it dismantled here in the U.S., with drastic budget cuts that have already eliminated critical federal brain injury programs and left others hanging in the balance. It’s why our policy and advocacy work is so important, and why the Brain Injury Association of America is working to build support for a National Action Plan focused on expanding our investment in federal research dollars, rather than slashing it further.

Despite all of this, the Brain Injury Association of America is leading the charge in supporting life-changing research. In this issue of THE Challenge!, you can read about the work funded by our Brain Injury Research Fund that is searching for cures for chronic brain injury, and how we’re involved in the creation of a new, better classification framework for TBI patients.

We hope you’ll join us as we continue to advocate for more funding and support for critical brain injury programs and research. Visit the BIAA website to learn more about how you can get involved with advocacy efforts or support the Brain Injury Research Fund.

Sincerely,

Rick Willis

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