Media Advisory

Monday, December 5, 2011

NIH campus to host the 4th Trauma Spectrum Conference, a trans-federal collaboration of Department of Defense, HHS and the Veterans’ Administration

Two-day meeting focuses on bridging the gap between research and clinical practice of psychological health and traumatic brain injury for military service members and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What

This two-day scientific meeting focuses on bridging the gap between research and clinical practice of psychological health and traumatic brain injury among military service members and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  • There are several evidence-based practices and training tools ready for implementation in clinical practice. One goal of the conference is to increase knowledge of these practices and tools among doctors and other healthcare providers.
  • Plenary sessions will focus on important research findings in traumatic brain Injury (TBI), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorders, sleep disorders, integrative telehealth/mobile technologies, evidence-based practice and comparative effectiveness, and an update on the Army STARRS program that focuses on suicide research.
  • Breakout sessions will include a variety of research topic areas, including neuro-imaging, TBI Common Data Elements and the NIH Toolbox, substance use disorders, Women’s Health, co-occurring disorders, cognitive rehabilitation, PTSD and depression, TBI and depression, and implementation science.

Who

  • Dr. Ramon Diaz Arrastia, professor of neurology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and director of clinical research at the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, will deliver the keynote address on December 8on traumatic brain injury.
  • Dr Terry Keane, director of the National Center for PTSD-Behavioral Sciences division and professor of psychology and assistant dean for research at Boston University School of Medicine, will deliver the keynote address on December 9 on post traumatic stress disorder.

To see a full list of topics and speakers, go to the conference website at: http://www.dcoe.health.mil/Training/TraumaSpectrumConference/Agenda.aspx.

When

Thursday, Dec. 8, and Friday, Dec. 9

Reporters wishing to attend the conference should contact one of the public affairs offices listed above.

The event is free and open to the public but registrations are limited due to facility capacity limits. This event will NOT be webcast live, but will be taped and available online at a later date.

Where

Natcher Conference Center, Building 45, at the National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Md. 20892: http://www.nih.gov/about/directions.htm

For more information visit the Trauma Spectrum Conference website at: http://www.dcoe.health.mil/Training/TraumaSpectrumConference.aspx

The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury seek to identify promising practices and quality standards of care for the treatment of service members, veterans and military families with psychological health concerns and traumatic brain injuries. DCoE leads a groundbreaking collaborative effort, working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, civilian agencies, community leaders, advocacy groups, clinical experts and academic institutions that are dedicated to expanding the state of knowledge of psychological health and TBI. For more information on the DCoE, please visit http://dcoe.health.mil.

The Department of Veterans Affairs VA Research and Development program is able to foster the development of patient-centered evidence for clinical care decision-making and serves as a model for conducting superior bench-to-bedside research. Research advances and solutions are applied to patient care as rapidly as possible to benefit not only Veterans, but their family members and caregivers. For additional information about the VA Research Program, please visit www.research.va.gov.

The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH) serves as a focal point for women's health research at the NIH. The office works in partnership with the NIH institutes and centers to ensure that women's health research is part of the scientific framework at NIH and throughout the scientific community. The ORWH partnership in these annual conferences highlights the focus on women’s health research as it relates to service members, veterans, and the impact on care-giving and families. For more information about NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health, please visit: http://orwh.od.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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