CNS News Facility Update: CIMIT Launches Neurotechnology Program

January, 2007: Neurological disorders are a significant cause of suffering and premature death, and cost the United States an estimated $400 billion annually in medical bills and lost productivity. As the population ages, the percentage affected will continue to increase. To address this major problem, the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) has launched its Neurotechnology Program
            “Over the past several years, CIMIT has supported a growing number of innovative research projects in the area of neurotechnology,” said CIMIT Director John Parrish, MD. “These collaborations between scientists and clinicians from CIMIT consortium institutions offer significant hope for patients with neurological disorders. By establishing the CIMIT Neurotechnology Program, we plan to attract and deploy significantly more resources into this important area, utilizing our extensive network of academic medical facilities, research laboratories and engineering institutions, which is the largest and most extensive such network in the United States. The program will bring together teams of physicians and scientists, including neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, psychiatrists, computer scientists, physicists and electrical engineers, to apply technology towards solving the most urgent medical needs of patients whose lives are devastated by neurological disorders.”
            Steven Schachter, MD, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and an epileptologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, will lead the CIMIT Neurotechnology Program.
            “Effective therapies to reverse or reduce the impact of neurological disorders are greatly needed,” Dr. Schachter explained. “In addition, rehabilitation strategies to improve function – for example after a stroke or spinal cord injury – are limited. Applying state-of-the-art technology to these problems presents opportunities for breakthroughs in patient care. I am truly excited to lead this effort at CIMIT.”
            “Dr. Schachter’s plans for this new program are stimulating CIMIT to rethink how we structure all of our research programs,” Dr. Parrish added. “By adding targeted educational programming and sponsor-supported facilitation activities, the Neurotechnology Program will catalyze collaborative research projects and will build constituencies of stakeholders who express their passion for this area through philanthropic support of specialized research and education.”
            The Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology is a nonprofit consortium of Boston-area teaching hospitals, engineering schools and research laboratories. More information about CIMIT can be found at www.cimit.org.