UT Medical Center Launches Brain Injury Institute

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas has launched a state-funded research institute dedicated to brain injuries.

The Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair will include UT Southwestern, UT Dallas, several medical facilities and the National Institute of Health. The institute also will have ties to the National Football league and the U.S. Defense Department.

The project is getting $15 million in funding from the Texas Legislature.

In a statement Friday, UT Southwestern President Daniel K. Podolsky said the focus would be on "thousands of military veterans, athletes, and accident victims in Texas and beyond who are dealing with this challenge."

The Texas Institute, and the work being done there, is an "effort unprecedented in its commitment to address the devastating effects of brain injury," according to a statement released Friday by UT Southwestern.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke in support of the Institute during a dinner to celebrate its opening Friday night in Dallas.

"We look at [brain research] as the last frontier of medicine, or maybe the next one. And we want to be a part of that as the NFL, and we accept that role of responsibility and we want to make a difference," Goodell said.

While the NFL is not contributing financially to the Institute, Goodell and other league officials in town for the announcement acknowledged that football players, other athletes, military veterans and many more will benefit from the work that will be done there.

Dr. Hunt Bather, Chairman of Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern, is also the co-chair of the NFL's Head, Neck and Spine Committee.

"It's fascinating. It makes you think. It makes you very optimistic they're going to be finding out a lot about the brain in the near future," Jeff Miller, NFL Senior Vice President of Health and Safety told NBC DFW.

NBC 5's Ben Russell contributed to this report.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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