Brain Injury Awareness Day in Congress

April 24, 2009

In recognition of Brain Injury Awareness Month, DCoE participated in the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Awareness Fair on Capitol Hill that marked this year’s Brain Injury Awareness Day.

The fair was sponsored by the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, which is co-chaired by Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (DN. J.) and Todd Russell Platts (R-Pa.). The TBI Awareness Fair, held March 25, was designed to educate members of Congress, their staffs and the public on the prevalence of TBI.

The focus of this year’s awareness fair was “Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries: From the Football Field to the Battlefield.” Information on breakthroughs in TBI research, development and technology was available.

An interactive display of exhibitors in the Rayburn House Office Building Foyer featured demonstrations from more than 45 exhibitors. There was also an interactive panel discussion on mild traumatic brain injuries and how they affect people. The discussion was moderated by Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Jaffee, M.D., director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, a DCoE component center.

Speakers included Lt. Gen. Clyde A. Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard; James Kelly, M.D., director of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence for Traumatic Brain Injury, a DCoE component center; and Chris Nowinski, author and board member of the Brain Injury Association of America.

More than 40 federal, non-governmental, academic and complementary and alternative medicine organizations attended the fair, including the American Academy of Neurology; National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Injury Response; the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, a DCoE component center; and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development.

The event provided a forum for DCoE to form new partnerships with organizations such as the National Center for Injury Prevention & Control and George Washington University.