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Department of Veterans Affairs
Rehabilitation Research Building, Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, RI
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The Rehabilitation Research Building encompasses 23,850 square feet of basic and clinical research space. Construction was supported with approximately $7M from the Department of Veterans Affairs, obtained by the efforts of the Medical Center Director, Vincent Ng. The building, located on the Providence VA Medical Center campus is home to the Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine's Robotic-Assisted Rehabilitation Gym, Gait and Motion Analysis Laboratory, the VA-DARPA DEKA Arm project, as well as the VA Research Enhancement Award Program, "Center on Systems, Outcomes & Quality in Chronic Disease & Rehabilitation Program", run by Dr. Peter Friedmann.
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Senator Jack Reed
(D-RI) United States Senator
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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
(D-RI) United States Senator |
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Representative James Langevin
U.S. House of Representatives
Rhode Island's 2nd District
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Congressional delegates joined the Center in celebration; Senator Jack Reed paid homage to the previous day (Veteran's Day) as "honoring the past, and this day and the Center as representing the future." Senator Sheldon Whitehouse referred to the "magic of the scientific enterprise". Representative James Langevin expressed the importance and "hopes of medical discovery and rehabilitation". Center Director, Roy K. Aaron, M.D., provided the audience with a viewing of flags that were flown on May 31, 2010 and donated to the Center by Special Operations Commands in Baghdad, Iraq and Kandahar, Afghanistan. "I am honored to accept these flags on behalf of the Center. The Center is the sum of its individual investigators who are making notable contributions in sciences relevant to the Center's mission of limb reconstruction." Associate Chief of Staff for Research at the Providence VA Medical Center, Robert Swift, M.D., expressed how delighted he was that the Center's leadership by Dr. Aaron helped in driving the Center forward. Brown University's Dean of Medicine, Edward Wing, M.D., echoed these sentiments and noted that Dr. Aaron was able to bring together a multidisciplinary, multi-million dollar research program that will result in advanced rehabilitation sciences.
Created in 2004, the Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine has been a growing entity in Rhode Island and is nationally known as one of 15 VA Centers of Excellence. Several people were cited by Dr. Aaron as having been influential in the Center's success; former Provost Bob Zimmer, Ph.D., "who had the vision to create collaboration between Brown and the VA"; Brown University's Chariman of Orthopaedics, Michael Ehrlich, M.D., who allowed what Dr. Aaron describes as, "enough rope to hang myself, and I think occasionally slipped a step-stool underneath me when I was about to do so"; and Dean Wing, who is supportive of the Brown University - VA collaboration.
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Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine
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So what for the future? The Center's prospective endeavors will be:
1. Develop and characterize the next generation of advanced prostheses, neurologic control mechanisms, and optimized human-prosthetic-interfaces.
2. Blend physicochemical techniques with instructive biomaterials and cell-based therapies to create a new functional level of engineered tissues.
3. Utilize motion analysis and virtual reality for advanced rehabilitation and the development of evidence based guidelines for treatment.
"We thank you all for your support, look forward to it in our future work, and hope to justify it by improving the health of veterans and the community at large." - Director, Roy K. Aaron, M.D.
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Newsletter Editor: Jennifer Racine
This newsletter will be published on an occasional basis announcing milestones in research, Center events, and related news. We invite submissions from all Center Investigators. Please send comments/suggestions to JRacine@lifespan.org |
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