Brain Injury Association of Hawaii

This Week in Brief: Senate Appropriations Committee Releases Spending Bills The Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) released recommendations for the remaining nine fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills, including the Labor-Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill. The recommendations for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services includes increased funding for programs that the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) s...upports including: An additional $2 million for the Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury program. An additional $100,000 increase for the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Data and Statistical Center, funded by the ACL National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). An additional $6 million to NIDILRR to increase annual grant funding to competitively funded model systems centers, including the $100,000 increase for the NDSC. $1 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Injury Center to implement a national concussion surveillance program.

Help us shine a light on the intersection of brain injury and domestic violence. https://www.biausa.org//morethanmybraininjury-awareness-ca October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Though we have made remarkable progress in increasing awareness and improving treatment of brain injury, there is a major segment of the brain injury community that receives little attention: survivors who sustain their injuries as a result of domestic violence.... While domestic violence was already an epidemic before COVID-19, the health crisis caused a tremendous spike in incidents of abuse last year. Increased isolation, social distancing, and shut downs made a difficult situation even worse.

Hawaii Parkinson's & Movement Disorders Center and Parkinson's & Movement Research Unit 1 of 20 sites in US Selected for Hawaii's first study for Huntington's Disease Investigating NMDA Receptor Positive Allosteric Modulator According to Sage Therapeutic website, Huntington’s disease (HD) is a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disease that progresses over time. Up to 30,000 adults are diagnosed with HD in the U.S. each year. Symptoms usually appear between ages 3045, worsen... over the following 1520 years, and ultimately lead to death. Psychiatric and cognitive symptoms can severely affect people with HD. HD is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder that impacts the brain and by nature numerous generations of a family. Cognitive decline is often one of the earliest signs of the disease and this decline, in addition to other symptoms, results in a devastating impact on independence, general functioning, and quality of life. SAGE-718, Sage’s first-in-class NMDA receptor PAM and lead neuropsychiatric drug candidate, is in development as a potential oral therapy for cognitive disorders associated with NMDA receptor dysfunction, potentially including Huntington’s disease (HD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Ongoing studies aim to evaluate whether SAGE-718 may have the potential to improve cognitive symptoms for these difficult-to-treat disorders. In studies to dat, treatment with SAGE-718 has been associated with improved cognitive performance, particularly in the domain of executive functioning. The FDA Fast Track Designation is an important milestone in the development of SAGE-718, as it provides opportunities to engage collaboratively with the FDA to further clinical development and future regulatory review of SAGE-718 for the treatment of HD. Photos credit: Sage Therapeutics

Aloha No Kakou (Greetings)! Please forward/share with those who may benefit from these island wide Neuroscience CME and other Educational & Research information. Email [email protected] to subscribe ... Mahalo, Kore Kai Liow, MD, Director & Principal Investigator, Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience, Clinical Professor of Medicine (Neurology),Graduate Faculty, Clinical & Translational Research, University of Hawaii John Burns School of Medicine Hawaii's Neuroscience Centers of Excellence Memory Disorders Ctr. Parkinson Dis., Movement Dis. & Neurodegenerative Dis. Ctr Headache and Facial Pain Ctr Stroke and Neurologic Restoration Center Comprehensive Epilepsy Center Video-EEG Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) Spine & Pain Management Ctr. Neuromuscular Rehabilitation Center Sleep and Insomnia Center AASM Accredited Sleep Laboratory Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Center Brain Heath, Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness Ctr MS & Neuroimmunology Center Clinical Research Center with IATA Certified Lab & Overnight Phase 1 PK Research Unit Contents Neuroscience Weekly Conferences & Lectures in Hawaii Neuroscience Research & Clinical Trials in Hawaii Neuroscience Specialists in Hawaii Neuroscience Centers of Excellence in Hawaii Neuroscience Summer Internship Program in Hawaii Neuroscience Publications by Hawaii Researchers