Institutional Sponsorship Program & Benefits Summary

The Sponsorship Program provides non-government funding to support the projects outlined in the TBI Precision Research Roadmap to accelerate progress and results.

Your sponsorship will help us drive a new era of research for TBI that advances a first generation of FDA-approved diagnostics and treatments.

Sponsorship levels are based on total annual or combined (3 year) commitment for individual or multiple programs, projects or infrastructure efforts delineated by the Precision TBI Research Roadmap. Commitments are formalized through a Grant or Gift Agreement with Cohen Veterans Bioscience, subject to Alliance terms & conditions, and payments are made annually in accordance with commitment terms.

Please contact us with any questions or to learn more about sponsorship.

Sponsorship Level & Benefits

Inaugural Sponsor‡

Platinum

Gold

Silver

Industry/Not-for-profit/Foundations/Individual Donors

Gold or Platinum Level committed by March 31, 2023

$2-5M+

$500K-2M

$100-500K

Seat on Inaugural Executive Committee (Y1)

1‡

Weighted vote on Industry, Foundation or Partners Stakeholder Council

After Y1, to level of sponsorship

3

2

1

Invitations to attend BTB Summit Annual Conferences

4

4

2

1

Branding opportunities

Premium placement & recognition of support

Premium placement & recognition of support

Logo on Program Materials

Logo on Program Materials

Membership Program benefits*

Included

Included

Included

Included

  *Refer to Membership Program for details

Contact Us to Learn More

Join the TBI Action Alliance as an Institution

Member Benefits & Information

Join the TBI Action Alliance as an Individual

Member Benefits & Information

TBI Diagnostics Showcase – June 9, 2024

The TBI Diagnostics Showcase will highlight 6 companies featuring unique diagnostic tools to support the assessment and management of brain trauma and associated disorders throughout the patient journey.

70 Million

Individuals worldwide suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year.

>310,100

Military service members were affected by TBIs between 2000-2015 – it’s the most common traumatic injury in the U.S. military.

>80,000

The number of emergency department visits that happen each year from TBIs in adults over 65 due to falls.

Americans pour ourselves into everything we do.

We’re dreamers. Builders. And innovators.

Whether it’s winning a weekend game of football, driving 3000-miles on a cross country road trip to see the glory of our national parks, enjoying an afternoon on the monkey bars with friends, or putting in a hot day to build our roads and cities or protect our citizens, we live life with joy, passion, heart… and a little bit of daring.

TBI Action Alliance

Become a member of the alliance

~475,000

Children (0-14 years old) suffer a TBI each year due to falls and sports related accidents.

5.3 Million

Americans are living with a long-term disability due to a TBI.

$50 Billion

In 2015, the cost for direct TBI medical care in the U.S. was estimated at more than $50 Billion per year.

TBI Action Alliance

But when we live life to its fullest, accidents can and do happen.

In fact, some 5.3 million of us every year experience head trauma from falls, car accidents, collisions, flying construction debris, or military engagements. And head impact can cause injury to the brain, which in turn can cause depression, anxiety, suicide, PTSD and other conditions. Today, more than 5.3 million of us are living with TBIs.

Help accelerate solutions for brain injury

~$203 Million

The annual investment by the NIH in TBI-related research programs, representing less than half a percent of NIH’s $45 Billion budget.

1.5-2.8

Times more likely someone with a history of TBI or PTSD will attempt suicide compared to those without the diagnosis.

5.3 Million

The number of Americans with traumatic brain injuries that we can help each year with your contributions.

We’re connecting leading experts and catalyzing collaborative action.

The TBI Action Alliance will deliver improved brain health and outcomes for individuals who have experienced traumatic brain injuries through collective expertise and multi-sector action to deliver innovative solutions. 

As part of the National Precision Research Roadmap for TBI, we’re working together to speed the development of diagnostics and treatments that improve the lives of the more than 5.3 million people living with TBI-related symptoms – including millions of veterans, first responders, athletes, elderly and children – and to help protect all Americans at risk for TBI from falls, accidents or sports-related impacts.

Magali Haas, MD, PhD

Join the alliance and become a partner

Brain Trauma Blueprint Process

The Roadmap

Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) established the Brain Trauma Blueprint – a framework for generating and executing precision research roadmaps.

Through this framework, CVB has convened TBI Researchers and other stakeholders at State of the Science Summits to identify and publish consensus challenges and recommendations for TBI research.

Brain trauma affects millions – here are some of their stories

The goal of the 40Winks study is to evaluate and improve methods of measuring sleep at home, which may help inform the development of diagnostics and treatments that are user-friendly, cost-effective, and reliable.

Man sleeping with smartwatch

How It Works

  • Participants will be provided a wearable wrist device (Fitbit) and a bed sensor (Withings) which will be placed under your mattress.
  • With your iPhone, you’ll download the study app and use it to complete a sleep diary.
  • Over the course of two weeks, you’ll track, monitor, and share your sleep data via these devices.
  • Participants will be compensated up to $150 for their time contributing to the study.
40Winks - Digital Health illustration
Digital health sleep dashboard

Why Participate

  • Your participation can help determine the best use of new technologies to measure sleep at home. These technologies may be used in the future to help improve the sleep of people suffering from brain disorders.
  • Using a sleep activity dashboard, you’ll gain a better understanding of your sleep patterns by tracking and reviewing your own sleep data.

Eligibility Overview

  • Healthy adult volunteers, or adults self-reporting insomnia
  • Willing to participate for two weeks
  • Male or female, 18-77 years of age, inclusive
  • Participants need a reliable connection to the internet and must be willing to use their own iPhone as prescribed

About the Study Sponsor

Cohen Veterans Bioscience is a non-profit 501(c)(3) biomedical research and technology organization dedicated to advancing brain health by fast-tracking precision diagnostics and tailored therapeutics.

Cohen Veterans Bioscience

Learn More About Clinical Trial Participation Opportunities

There are many different ways to find out about clinical research opportunities that might be of interest to you. Many doctors offices have brochures or advertisements about studies they are conducting or someone in their practice or hospital are conducting. A local study site might advertise on the radio or on the internet about their study. The sponsor of a study may have a website dedicated to informing people about the study. These websites may allow you to see if there is a study site near you.

Many patient advocacy groups also list available clinical studies on their websites. And finally, as all clinical studies of new treatments are required to be listed on a national registry, you can also search for your area of interest and “recruiting” or “not yet recruiting” at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Cohen Veterans Bioscience has several studies that are ongoing or about to start that you may be interested in learning more about.

Get More Information

Interested in joining on of our studies or getting more information? Feel free to reach out to us today.

Contact Us

Suicide rates among Veterans are not improving.
We can and must do better.

Up to 22
Up to 22

Tragically up to 22 American Veterans and service members die by suicide daily.

300,000
300,000

Nearly 300,000 Veterans who returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from PTSD.

Veterans and service members need more treatment options.

Despite decades of promising research and more than $1.1 billion spent on clinical trials1, no new drugs for PTSD and TBI have successfully advanced to FDA approval. And the research pipeline for new devices and therapies is thin as many pharmaceutical companies have abandoned research into PTSD and TBI.

Complex problems require a new approach that embraces collaborative science conducted to the highest standards of quality and with an openness to share data towards a common goal.

About the Coalition

Co-founded by Cohen Veterans Bioscience, the Coalition to Heal Invisible Wounds brings together leading non-profit organizations seeking to advance a comprehensive research-focused advocacy agenda to address the invisible wounds of war—PTSD and TBI—as well as to address co-morbid conditions such as pain and substance use disorders, which are known to dramatically increase the risk of suicide among Veterans and service members.

Advocacy Priorities

The Coalition seeks to promote reforms, policies and meaningful research investments that will spur new research discoveries and advance a precision medicine approach for the invisible wounds of war.

Coalition Members

The ultimate goal of the Coalition’s advocacy efforts is to realize better treatments, improved quality of life, new cures, and a reduction in the rate of suicide among Veterans and service members.

Chair

Co-Chair

Contact

For more information about the Coalition to Heal Invisible Wounds and how to become a member, please contact our Senior Director of External Affairs, Dr. Chantelle Ferland-Beckham.

Dr. Chantelle Ferland-Beckham, Ph.D.
Senior Director, External Affairs
Contact via Email

Fostering a collaborative approach to advancing solutions for brain trauma

Galvanizing the brain health ecosystem

Program

Brain Health Nexus

The Brain Health Nexus initiative aims to unleash science and technology to build a new paradigm of collaboration to optimize brain health and prevent brain disease. In the current research landscape, each brain disease is addressed separately. But these diseases do not exist in isolation. We need coordinated action to broaden the focus from treating diseases at crisis points to prevention and wellness across the lifespan. It will take one interconnected community to break down barriers and borders, share data and insights, and bridge capital and opportunity.

Identifying biomarkers for brain disorders

Learn More About CVB

There are two main types of clinical research

  1. Observational studies, also called natural history studies, collect health information to understand how a disease progresses over time, or how someone without the disease might fare over a similar time period.

  2. Clinical studies or trials test new treatments (i.e., new drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, or even the role of caregivers and support groups) for diseases or new ways to diagnose disease.

Who participates?

Every person who chooses to participate in clinical research does so for their own reasons. Some of the main reasons people participate are:

  • The treatments they have tried for their health problem did not work.
  • There is no treatment for their health problem, and, by being part of a clinical trial, they may learn about new treatments before they are widely available.
  • They prefer the comprehensive health care they may receive during the study.
  • While they are healthy, there may be a disease that is common in their family, and they want to help find ways to prevent it.
  • They feel participating offers a way to play an active role in their own health care.
  • They want to help researchers learn more about certain health problems.

Regardless of your reason and regardless of the outcome of the study, your participation helps move science forward. Without your participation we could not discover new treatments or find ways to better help future generations.

You can participate in clinical trials in different ways.

You can participate in clinical trials in different ways.

You can join a study directly and participate in real time or you can give permission to your health care provider to include your data or samples (blood or tissue) in their research.

While each study is different, there are strict regulations about how they should be conducted, and many of the steps are the same.

  1. A member of the study team will explain the trial to you in detail and they will give you information to read at home if you are not yet ready to make a decision about participating.
  2. The study team will ask you questions to better understand if you will be eligible for the study, e.g. are you the right age, do you have the time participate?
  3. You can ask the study team any questions you have and once you feel all of your questions are answered and you agree to participate, you will sign a form documenting what was explained to you about the study. This is called an informed consent and it also has information about who to contact if you have questions later or if you change your mind about participating, as well as information about how the study team is protecting your data privacy rights.
  4. You will then be screened to make sure you qualify for the trial.
  5. From here, the next step are determined by the study design.
  1. In your first visit, which may be in the clinic or at home, the researchers conduct tests to record a baseline of your health before you take any study treatment. These tests might include a physical exam, a memory test, doing a blood draw (e.g. for cholesterol levels), or having you fill out behavioral scales.
  2. You are randomly assigned to a group that receives the treatment being tested or to the control group.
  3. You follow the trial procedures, which might include repeating some of the tests done at the first visit, and report any issues or concerns to researchers.
  4. The study team, who does not know which group you are in, keeps detailed records of how your health has changed, if at all, as well as any side effects you report.
  5. Regardless of the study type you participate in, you will continue to see your regular physician for usual health care throughout the study.

Clinical Trial Participation Opportunities

There are many different ways to find out about clinical research opportunities that might be of interest to you. Many doctors offices have brochures or advertisements about studies they are conducting or someone in their practice or hospital are conducting. A local study site might advertise on the radio or on the internet about their study. The sponsor of a study may have a website dedicated to informing people about the study. These websites may allow you to see if there is a study site near you.

Many patient advocacy groups also list available clinical studies on their websites. And finally, as all clinical studies of new treatments are required to be listed on a national registry, you can also search for your area of interest and “recruiting” or “not yet recruiting” at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Cohen Veterans Bioscience has several studies that are ongoing or about to start that you may be interested in learning more about.

Get More Information

Interested in joining on of our studies or getting more information? Feel free to reach out to us today.

Contact Us

Establishing universal standards for data collection

PTSD Therapeutic Area User Guide v1.0

In partnership with the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC), we published the first Therapeutic Area (TA) Standard for PTSD. The guide describes how data should be recorded in a standardized database, establishing best practices across the clinical research industry for recording, reporting, and sharing disease-specific data. Using the guide can facilitate regulatory submissions for novel therapies and allow the research community to easily compare data from different studies. This guide is critical for the future of data integration and collaboration that can accelerate the discovery of better diagnostics and treatment options for PTSD.

We hope researchers will use this user guide to bring clarity to the data and discover breakthroughs in PTSD.

– David R. Bobbitt
President and CEO, CDISC

Preclinical Common Data Elements for Traumatic Brain Injury

Big data approaches are critical to accelerating discovery in complex disorders such as traumatic brain injury (TBI). Common data elements (or CDEs) enable big data approaches by providing consistency in the way data is collected, formatted and described from one study to the next. Members of the Cohen Veterans Science scientific team were part of a committee of experts who worked with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to spearhead the development of CDEs for preclinical TBI research.

Enhancing the quality of preclinical data

Global Preclinical Data Forum

The Global Preclinical Data Forum (GPDF) is a jointly sponsored U.S. and European initiative that encourages global collaboration to address the challenge of ensuring that preclinical research is reproducible, robust, and translatable. The GPDF provides training, education, and other resources that address modern issues in preclinical research with the goal of systematically advancing best practices that will enhance the quality of the preclinical data for clinical research and development. Cohen Veterans Bioscience is the fiscal sponsor of the GPDF and part of the GPDF leadership Core Team.

PEERS: The Platform for The Exchange of Experimental Research Standards

Laboratory assays and tests have become increasingly diverse and complex. Confronted with a multitude of information with unclear relevance for their specific experiments, scientists run the risk of overlooking critical factors that can influence the outcome of their studies. PEERS is a community-driven, open access database that will improve the reproducibility of preclinical studies by providing scientists with an expertly curated catalogue of the major factors that can influence the outcome of an experiment when not considered a priori.

Sex as a Biological Variable Video Training Series

Differences between males and females extend far beyond reproduction, with significant implications for human health and disease. This is particularly relevant in neuroscience, where difference in basic biology between males and females translates into sex differences in the prevalence, progression, and responses to treatment of many brain disorders. Cohen Veterans Bioscience developed an unprecedented new video series that provides the practical knowledge necessary for preclinical researchers to incorporate sex as a biological variable into their current and future research. The 18-part video training program was developed to help strengthen the translation of basic research findings to human care and enhance the overall quality of preclinical research.

EQIPD

There are no universally agreed upon guidelines that govern the design, conduct, and analysis of preclinical research. As a result, the development of new medications has slowed dramatically in the last 10 years due to the high risk of failure. The EQIPD project (2017-2021) aimed to reverse this trend by bringing together a consortium of over 20 research groups from industry and academia to develop a simple, strategies to reduce the risks of drug development research and ensure adherence to rigorous research practices. The Guarantors of EQIPD were founded in 2021 to disseminate the developed strategies to the research community. Cohen Veterans Bioscience is a fiscal sponsor of the Guarantors of EQIPD.

Incentivizing the publication of negative data

When science is properly conducted, negative results, or results that do not confirm the expected outcome or original hypotheses, are a natural occurrence. However, much of the science that is published is skewed towards positive results, with some estimates indicating that 85% of all published studies in neuroscience publish only positive results. The end result is a loss of time and money as researchers pursue avenues of scientific inquiry that are bound to fail. Cohen Veterans Bioscience believes that we need a paradigm shift in which negative data is valued according to the same standards as positive data and has taken a number of steps to demonstrate the value of negative data to the scientific process.

Best Negative Data Prize in Preclinical Neuroscience

  • Learn more and see the list of past prize winners here.

Best Negative Data Prize in Clinical Neuroscience

  • Learn more here.
  • See the publications from the past winner here. 

Neurotrauma Reports Null Hypothesis Section

  • Learn more here.
  • Read the publications here.
  • Q&A with one of the authors in the collection can be found here.