David C. Good, M.D., professor of neurology and director of rehabilitation at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, has been named chairman of the steering committee for a major clinical trials initiative of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the National Institutes of Health.
Duane Alexander, M.D., director of NICHD, appointed Good to chair the steering committee of the Cooperative Multicenter Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Trials Network. The multidisciplinary network was established in 2001 to evaluate the relationship between acute care practice and rehabilitation strategies, aimed at improving the long-term outcomes of brain injury patients.
The steering committee oversees the approval of grants to individual research projects. The network, which consists of a team of eight academic clinical centers and a data coordinating center, is embarking on its first clinical trials.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in children and adults. An estimated 2 million head injuries occur in the United States each year. More specialized emergency treatment, especially at the accident scene, has saved people who might otherwise have died before reaching the hospital, which means that an increasing number of patients need effective rehabilitation.
Good also directs Wake Forest Baptist’s Acquired Brain Injury Unit, in which an interdisciplinary rehabilitation team works with patients and families. The team includes neurologists, neuropsychologists, rehabilitation nurses, physical, occupational, speech and recreation therapists, social workers, psychologists and dietitians.
“I am truly honored to serve in this capacity,” Good said of the appointment. “The Brain Injury Clinical Trials Network will help shape the future of TBI research and clinical practice. We are poised on the threshold of a new era of major advances in the treatment of this devastating condition, and it is exciting to be part of this national effort.”
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