About DVBIC

OUR MISSION

The mission of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) is to serve active duty military, their beneficiaries, and veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) through state-of-the-art clinical care, innovative clinical research initiatives and educational programs.  DVBIC fulfills this mission through ongoing collaboration with military, VA and civilian health partners, local communities, families and individuals with TBI.

In 2008, DVBIC's mission expanded to include Force Health Protection and Management. This encompasses the following Department of Defense (DoD) programs:

• TBI Surveillance
• TBI Registry
• Pre-deployment neurocognitive testing
• Family Caregiver Curriculum
• 15 year longitudinal study of TBI
• Independent study of automated neurocognitive tests

DVBIC has been named the Office of Responsibility or Executive Agency for these programs.

DVBIC's multi-center network design and collaborations with forward medical commands allows for clinical innovation along the entire continuum of care: from initial injury in the war zone through to medical evacuation, acute care, rehabilitation and ultimately a return to community, family, and work or continued duty when possible.

WHO WE ARE

In 1992, Congress created the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) — originally known as the Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program (DVHIP) — during the Persian Gulf War to integrate specialized TBI care, research and education across military and veteran medical care systems. 

DVBIC is:

• A multi-site medical care, clinical research and education network
• A unique collaboration between the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare systems
• Funded through the DoD
• The primary TBI operational component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE).

WHAT WE DO

• Develop and provide advanced TBI-specific evaluation, treatment and follow-up care for military personnel, their beneficiaries, and veterans with mild to severe TBIs
• Conduct clinical research that defines optimal care and treatment for individuals with TBI
• Develop and deliver effective educational materials and programming for the prevention, assessment and treatment of TBI including the management of its continuing effects. DVBIC is specifically committed to the effort to prevent, treat, and provide education on TBI for US military members currently on active duty, National Guard and reservists recently injured in the line of duty, their beneficiaries, and retired military personnel.
• Oversee congressionally-mandated DoD TBI programs

All of the above are done through innovative collaborations among the Armed Forces, VA, federal agencies, and coordinating academic institutions.


MAKING A DIFFERENCE

DVBIC plays a critical role in maintaining unit readiness, improving the health and safety of service members and veterans, and ensuring optimal outcomes for individuals with TBI and their families. DVBIC programs serve troops and veterans with all levels of TBI severity and in every environment of care.

In addition to supporting facility-based care at 19 sites in the USA and Germany, DVBIC also coordinates care amongst multiple health systems, improves access to care for individuals and families in remote, underserved and isolated regions and integrates critical educational components into the care delivery system.  The DVBIC research division works to ensure that clinical interventions are well aimed and based upon proven methodology and that current research findings are translated into clinical practice. Together with providers in the field, DVBIC staff work to ensure that all active duty military and veteran patients with traumatic brain injury receive TBI-specific screening, treatment and follow-up care that incorporates all aspects of each patient’s health, abilities and aspirations, utilizing the latest technology and evidence.

ACHIEVEMENTS

DVBIC has been designated as the primary TBI subject matter experts (SMEs) for the DoD and VA. DVBIC neuroscientists and researchers have helped to establish the clinical standards and guidelines for care of service members and veterans with traumatic brain injury. Recent initiatives include the development of the officially adopted in-theater screening tool, the Military Acute Concussion Evaluation (MACE) as well as in-theater Clinical Practice Guidelines for field management of severe brain injuries and management of mild TBI (mTBI)/concussions.

DVBIC conducted the first randomized controlled trial of rehabilitation therapy and pioneered the first Institutional Review Board approved prospective study in a combat zone. DVBIC has trained more than 1,500 DoD providers in the management of TBI.

DVBIC is responsible for DoD TBI surveillance, pre-deployment cognitive testing, the congressionally mandated 15-year longitudinal study of TBI, and the development of the Family Caregiver Curriculum program.

DVBIC research and systems have been recognized by the Institute of Medicine, RAND Corporation, and NATO allies. In 2005, an external review of TBI care in the US was published by Cope, et al in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. DVBIC was named as the network with the most fully developed system of care in brain injury.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Download our fact sheet.