Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and MedStar National Rehabilitation Network recently announced the launch of GUMC’s new Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery. The organizations’ collaborative operation of the center is intended to facilitate the immediate application of new approaches to clinical treatment of stroke, reports a Georgetown news release. The center’s conception stems from a multiyear strategic planning process.

Howard Federoff, MD, PhD, executive vice president, health sciences at GUMC notes, “Breakthroughs on these important challenges are within our grasp but require a highly interdisciplinary approach that is still rare among top research universities.”

According to the release, Elissa Newport, PhD, will be joining the Center for Brain Plasticity and serve as its director while her new collaborator, Alexander Dromerick, MD, professor of rehabilitation medicine and associate medical director for research at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, serves as the center’s co-director. Newport reiterates Federoff’s sentiments, explaining that significant gains in neuroscience can be attained by uniting teams of scientists and clinicians, “[The center will comprise] a rare interdisciplinary integration of neuroscience research across the spectrum, from genetic and molecular to behavior and cognitive levels of analysis, bridging basic science and clinical application,” Newport says.

Dromerick adds that the new center will offer new insights into restoring optimal function following a range of insults to the brain while also providing, “the realistic opportunity to dramatically change the lives of people affected by these disabling diseases.”

Source: GUMC