UIC Named Lead Center for Kids' Brain Injury
The University of Illinois at Chicago has been named by a private foundation as a lead center to create a model system for medical care of children suffering from pediatric acquired brain injuries.
The Sarah Jane Brain Project, founded by a father whose infant daughter suffered a tragic brain injury, has established a national network of healthcare institutions to address the No. 1 cause of death and disability for children and young adults in the United States.
UIC has received two designations, one at the state and one at the national level.
As the lead center for the state, UIC will develop a master plan of care for children and young adults with brain injuries in Illinois.
"The idea is to work with other state lead centers in developing standards of care for pediatric acquired brain injuries and to capture patient data from centers around Illinois to determine the best level of care needed for each patient," said Deborah Little, director of MRI Research in neurology and rehabilitation at UIC and principal investigator of the project.
As the national lead center for rural/tele-health, UIC will coordinate virtual access to brain injury specialists who will consult with rural health centers when specialized care is not easily available.
Most people in the United States live more than an hour away from a major medical center, said Little, and this is a way to take the specialists to where they are needed.
In January, Little joined more than 60 pediatric neurology experts in New York City to draft the first-ever National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan to develop a seamless, standardized, evidence-based system of care for all children and young adults regardless of where they live.
"We are so honored to have UIC as the State Lead Center for Illinois and as part of this national network of the best healthcare institutions in the country," said Sarah Jane Brain Project founder Patrick Donohue. He started the Sarah Jane Brain Project in 2007 after his daughter Sarah Jane was shaken by her baby nurse, causing a severe brain injury.
"It is shocking to realize that despite brain injury being the leading killer and disabler of our children, nothing has ever before been done to develop a nationally standardized medical or even an educational plan to address it," he said.
The National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan is estimated to cost $125 million annually to implement across the country and will address seven categories of care for each aspect of brain injury treatment: prevention, acute care, rehabilitation, adult transition, rural/tele-health, mild traumatic brain injury, and a virtual center that includes a family registry, electronic medical records and healthcare information technology.
Children's hospitals, research universities and other healthcare organizations applied last March to be the lead centers in their respective states. A committee of seven well-known brain scientists and rehabilitation experts selected one institution in every state, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The Sarah Jane Brain Project's National Advisory Board will announce all 52 state lead centers in Washington on June 5 at 11 a.m. at a Capitol Hill press conference in the Rayburn House Office Building, 4th Floor, Room 2345.
UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.