Seahawks owner Paul Allen’s foundation funds TBI research
Nov 20, 2013, 6:20 PM | Updated: Nov 21, 2013, 3:22 am
Coach Pete Carroll and the Seahawks host Major General Stephen Lanza and soldiers from the US Army's 7th Infantry Division for an open forum on traumatic brain injuries in November of 2012. (Seahawks file photo)
(Seahawks file photo)
Brett Farve is one of the latest in a growing list of former NFL stars to express concerns about memory loss and other issues brought after receiving multiple concussions playing football.
Paul Allen, who walks in two worlds as the owner of the Seahawks and founder of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, wants to further the study locally of Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI.
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has awarded a $2.37 million grant to help Seattle-area researchers investigate the lasting effects of TBI.
The grant, awarded over two years to the University of Washington and the Allen Institute for Brain Science, will help fill in the gaps about the unknown lasting structural and biological effects of TBI.
They’ll zero in on what goes wrong in the brain after a TBI and if there are any corresponding disorders and complications.
“Awareness of TBI has grown in recent years, but our understanding of what actually happens to the brain in the years following that type of injury is still a great mystery,” Susan M. Coliton, Vice President of the Allen Family Foundation says in a statement.
“For the first time, we will determine the structural and molecular genetic changes that occur in the brain years or decades after a TBI,” adds Dr. Keene of the University of Washington.
Along with some high profile NFL players and soldiers returning from from Iraq and Afghanistan, about two million people suffer from brain injuries every year caused by sudden hits to the head.
The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, TBI will be the third-leading cause of death and disability for all ages worldwide.
Research into TBI to date has focused on the immediate impacts of mild trauma, but the broader, lasting consequences of a single or repetitive brain injury are still unclear.
By LINDA THOMAS
