Virginia Catalyst announces $500,000 grant for a brain-injury diagnostic method

The Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corp., known as the Virginia Catalyst, announced a $500,000 grant award Wednesday for research on brain injury detection.

The collaborative team includes the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, the University of Virginia, Carilion Medical Center, and BRAINBox Solutions Inc., which has its headquarters in Richmond. BRAINBox Solutions will provide a $500,000 funding match.

The funding will support the Virginia Brain Injury Diagnosis and Monitoring Initiative. The project focuses on a multimodality system approach that includes point-of-care device detection of testing for brain injury biomarkers. It also includes integrated neuro-imaging, behavioral and biomarker models for outcome predictions and general brain injury management.

This funding supports efforts to expand upon ongoing collaborative work between the participating institutions. The goal is to set the standard of care for mild traumatic brain injury and demonstrate the clinical utility of the system approach to provide more accurate risk assessment as well as clinical treatment planning for individuals with suspected concussion or mild brain injury from head injuries. The idea is to inform targeted interventions for high-risk patients, reduce disability, and allow low-risk patients to return to work/play sooner.
 
This grant is part of round seven of funding by Virginia Catalyst.

Virginia Catalyst is a not-for-profit corporation funded by the Virginia General Assembly’s general fund and seven of Virginia’s research universities. The organization has now awarded 28 grants totaling over $11 million, combined with $20.5 million in matching funds, which financed the achievement of meaningful milestones.