NIDRR selects BMC as Spinal Cord Injury Model System site

The New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center at Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been selected as a Spinal Cord Injury Model System (SCIMS) by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The grants are awarded in five-year cycles by the NIDRR through an extremely selective process with only 14 national sites.

NIDRR supports innovative research in the delivery, demonstration and assessment of medical rehabilitation to meet the needs of individuals with spinal cord injuries. The 14 SCIMS centers in the U.S. are recognized as national leaders in research, spinal cord injury care, and provide the highest level of specialty services from the point of injury through rehabilitation and outpatient care.

"With this grant the center will be able to continue as the leading center in New England for patient care, education and research in spinal cord injury," said Steve Williams, MD, chief of rehabilitation medicine at BMC and professor and chairman of rehabilitation medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. "We are the only model spinal cord injury center to form a network of hospitals including Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Connecticut and Hospital for Special Care in Hartford, Connecticut, allowing people throughout New England to receive the same standard of SCI care.

Committed to staying on the cutting edge of spinal cord research and treatment, the center is currently working on developing a measurement tool for people with spinal cord injuries spanning from childhood to the geriatric patient. This will allow physicians and researchers to see how function changes in a patient with spinal cord injury as they age.