For Immediate Release
Contact: Derek T. Berry
Media Relations Manager
Ph: 202-877-1773
Mobile: 571-218-7594
Derek.T.Berry@medstar.net
Washington, DC – January 29, 2010 – The National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) Spinal Cord Injury Research Center has received a $4 million grant for its Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) to study secondary conditions in those with spinal cord injuries (SCIs).
The grant, to be awarded over a five-year period, is federally funded and supported by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. These funds will allow NRH to further extend its SCI research and training efforts.
While SCIs cause permanent change to a person’s body, they can also cause secondary health conditions that a SCI patient was not at risk for before their injury, such as obesity, Cardiometabolic Syndrome (a condition that can lead to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other conditions), pressure ulcers and skin breakdowns.
The RRTC’s studies will focus on these conditions as they can be the most common after a spinal cord injury and the most expensive to treat. NRH researchers will look to find ways of preventing these conditions among SCI patients. There will also be a strong focus on SCI patients in the Latino and African-American communities and others who are at risk for receiving poor quality health services.
“NRH is a great site for this Center because it is the main provider of SCI services in the DC area and has a close relationship with the local community,” said Dr. Suzanne Groah, Director of the SCI Research Program at NRH. “The Washington D.C. area has a very large community of underserved, poor, illiterate and/or non-English speaking individuals who are often at risk for secondary conditions. Helping these individuals and all of those with SCIs live healthier lives is the goal of our research and helps people ‘Add life to years.’”
To learn more, visit http://sci-health.org
National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) is a private, not-for-profit facility located in Northwest Washington, D.C. NRH’s services are designed specifically for the rehabilitation of individuals with disabling injuries and illnesses such as stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and disease, arthritis, amputations, post-polio syndrome, chronic pain, back and neck pain, occupational injuries, cancer and cardiac disease that require medical rehabilitation, and other neurological and orthopedic conditions. NRH admits approximately 2,200 inpatients annually, has appeared on the “Best Hospitals” list in U.S. News & World Report for 15 consecutive years and is currently ranked among the top hospitals in medical rehabilitation in America. NRH has the only CARF accredited specialty program for both Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke in the region. In addition, NRH’s Spinal Cord Injury Program has been designated one of only 14 Model SCI Systems of care in the country by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a part of the Department of Education. NRH is a proud member of MedStar Health.