In 2002, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation were awarded a five-year grant to be a Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (TBIMS) by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Following re-competition in 2007, the North Texas TBI Model System was awarded an additional 5 year grant by NIDRR. The 14 affiliated Model System centers throughout the United States are responsible for gathering and submitting the core data set to the national database as well as conducting research studies on traumatic brain injury (TBI) both in collaboration with the other centers and within our own site. Through our research we hope to learn more about TBI and about the issues and concerns of people with TBI. Our goals are to improve the outcome and quality of life for people who have had brain injuries and for those who are caring for the person with a TBI.
North Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Model System - A Collaborative Effort
With the awarding of the grant by NIDRR, an alliance was formed between the two largest hospitals in the North Texas region to form the North Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (NT-TBIMS). Parkland Health and Hospital System (PHHS) is the regions largest level I trauma center and captures 60% of the region’s trauma. PHHS is the primary teaching hospital of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UTSW). Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) is the second largest level I trauma center in the region and receives 30% of the region’s trauma. The bulk of TBI patients admitted to PHHS and BUMC who require inpatient rehabilitation obtain such care at one of our three collaborating Rehabilitation Units: Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation (BIR), the inpatient rehabilitation ward at PHHS, or the inpatient rehabilitation ward at Zale-Lipshy University Hospital (ZLUH), another primary teaching hospital of UTSW. .
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UTSW), Parkland Health and Hospital System (PHHS) and Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) has collaborated for many years to provide outstanding clinical care and cutting edge research. UTSW is the only allopathic medical school in the North Texas region, and it is widely recognized as one of the leading medical schools in the United States for its leadership in basic and clinical research, training of medical students and post-graduate physicians, and excellence in patient care. It is the home of 4 Nobel Prize winners and 14 members of the National Academy of Sciences. BUMC is the largest hospital in North Texas and for more than 100 years has provided outstanding medical care to the community. Due to its central location and reputation for excellence, BUMC and the UTSW affiliated hospitals serve a large catchment area including north Texas, west Texas, the panhandle of Texas, and the surrounding counties of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana
The North Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (NT-TBIMS) pools the efforts and talents of individuals from the Departments of Neurosurgery, Neurology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry (Neuropsychiatry), and Neuroradiology of the two leading medical institutions in the North Texas region.
To be a patient involved in the research being conducted by the North Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Model System you must have suffered a TBI, be at least 16 years of age, have received initial treatment for the TBI at either Parkland Health and Hospital System or Baylor University Medical Center and then have received rehabilitative care at either Parkland, Zale-Lipshy, or Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation. The patient must also be able to understand and sign an informed consent to participate or, if unable, have a family member or a legal guardian who understands the form sign the informed consent for the patient.
