Congresswoman Beatty Spearheads $1.6 Billion Initiative to Secure Funding for Stroke and TBI Research and Prevention

Press Release

U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) spearheaded an effort and was joined by 21 additional Members of Congress to urge the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to provide $1.6 billion in funding for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NINDS supports research to improve our fundamental understanding of the nervous system and leverages that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disorders.

"I led this initiative because millions of Americans suffer from and live with the consequences of a brain injury and we should do more to assist these servicemembers, athletes, and survivors," said Rep. Beatty. "As a stroke survivor, I know the importance of receiving the treatments for stroke, traumatic brain injuries, and neurological disorders that have been developed with federal dollars."

Stroke strikes 800,000 people in the United States annually, and 6.8 million survivors live with long-term disability. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability in children and young adults. Millions of student athletes and military personnel are at risk for concussions (mild TBI), raising concerns about lingering or long-delayed effects.

Hundreds of neurological disorders, common and rare, present formidable challenges to medicine that are compounded by the complexity of the brain. Robust funding is needed to support NINDS' critical research, train investigators in the basic and clinical neurosciences, and seek better understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of neurological disorders.

In addition to leading the Appropriations letter, Rep. Beatty recently introduced a bipartisan bill, the Concussion Awareness and Education Act of 2015, H.R. 1271, which would create a comprehensive research program with the NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the treatment, surveillance and prevention of concussion injuries. The findings and recommendations generated due this legislation would assist not only our student athletes, but also our servicemembers and veterans who sustained and continue to live with traumatic brain injuries.

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