Overview

The Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model System overseen by Allen W. Brown, M.D., at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and has been funded continuously since 1998. It is one of 16 centers in the United States supported by a NIDILRR-funded grant (90DP003).

NIDILRR sponsors TBI Model Systems to:

  • Demonstrate and evaluate the cost-benefit and service-delivery outcomes of a comprehensive service-delivery system for individuals with TBI
  • Establish a research program to evaluate the development of a database and conduct innovative analysis of data
  • Demonstrate and evaluate the development and application of improved and innovative methods essential to the care and rehabilitation of individuals with TBI
  • Participate in national studies of the TBI Model System concept by contributing to the TBI Model Systems' national database as prescribed by the secretary of education

Mayo Clinic's TBI Model System is directly aligned with the NIDILRR mission of improving the lives of individuals who experience TBI, their families and communities. The system's goal is to study the course of long-term recovery after TBI, as well as to develop, provide and evaluate innovative services that address identified needs for care coordination and community reintegration.

The system focuses on clinical research concerning epidemiology, practice management models, treatment outcomes, community-based randomized clinical trials of behavioral interventions and remotely provided rehabilitation. Its research has produced dozens of publications and hundreds of presentations, bringing to prominence Mayo Clinic's status as an internationally recognized brain rehabilitation program.

Affiliations

The Traumatic Brain Injury Model System is affiliated with the following research areas: