Midwest Regional Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (MRTBIMS):

Innovative Approaches to Improve Cognition, Function and Community Living 

The Rehabilitation Institute Research Corporation

Project Directors:
Elliot J. Roth, MD
Felise S. Zollman, MD 

Additional Sites:
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
RML Specialty Hospital
University of Illinois at Chicago
Brain Injury Association of Illinois

ABSTRACT

The Midwest Regional Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (MRTBIMS) has been created to accomplish several important objectives in support of an interdisciplinary, multidimensional center focused on providing and improving care for people with TBI. We will establish a coordinated multilevel interdisciplinary system of care for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), including pre-hospital, emergency, acute, long-term acute, intensive rehabilitation, and community care. This continuum of care will be provided at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, RML Specialty Hospital, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and its System of Care, under the leadership of Elliot J. Roth, MD and Felise S. Zollman, MD. We also will submit data on at least 35 TBI patients per year to the National TBI Database. Our research plans include implementation of two site-specific research projects, which consist of clinical trials on the effectiveness of acupuncture to improve sleep in TBI patients and on the effectiveness of a virtual reality-robotics program to improve attention and concentration in TBI patients. We also plan to participate in at least one multi-center collaborative research project. Further, the Center will be engaged in dissemination of educational and other materials on TBI to a variety of target audiences, including persons with TBI and their families, professionals who care for patients with TBI, and the public. Finally, we plan to collaborate with the Brain Injury Association of Illinois and other NIDRR-funded centers as appropriate. These activities are expected to have a positive impact on clinical TBI management practices and health care policy.

For additional information on the Midwest TBI Model System click below.