Contact: Renatt Brodsky Mount Sinai Press Office212-241-9200[email protected] Mount Sinai Awarded Five Year Spinal Cord Injury Model System Grant

Newswise — (New York, NY –November 21, 2016)- The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai was one of only 14 national institutions awarded a Spinal Cord Injury Model System (SCIMS) grant valued at $2,280,000 over five years from the National Institute of Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). As a national leader in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) and Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Mount Sinai is the only institution in New York State to receive the grant.

The annual incidence of new SCI cases in the United States is 17,000 with vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury, followed by falls, acts of violence and sports activities. As a selected Center, Mount Sinai will contribute and participate in independent and collaborative research, and provide information and resources to individuals with SCI, their family and care givers, health care professionals, and the general public.

“Receiving this grant will enable Mount Sinai to positively affect the quality of life for many individuals with SCI and provide research breakthroughs for the important community that we serve,” said Thomas Bryce, MD, Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

More specifically, Mount Sinai will also provide a regional multidisciplinary system of care that includes a number of innovative clinical programs for people with SCI in the New York City metropolitan area; contribute longitudinal data to the SCI national database; conduct one local research project to evaluate a novel approach to clinical inpatient treatment; and participate in three collaborative module research projects with other Model System centers.

“Our goal is to ultimately improve the quality of life for individuals with spinal cord injuries,” said Joseph Herrera, DO, System Chairman and Lucy G Moses Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation, Mount Sinai Health System. “We want to help patients and their families receive excellent care and also provide them with innovative and ground breaking technological advances and clinical trials that will change their lives.”

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is also a federally funded Traumatic Brain Injury Model System and is one of only 7 centers in the U.S. to hold both grants.

This grant was funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services # 90SI5026

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.

The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the “Honor Roll” of best hospitals in America, ranked No. 15 nationally in the 2016-2017 “Best Hospitals” issue of U.S. News & World Report. The Mount Sinai Hospital is also ranked as one of the nation’s top 20 hospitals in Geriatrics, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Ear, Nose & Throat, and is in the top 50 in four other specialties. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 10 nationally for Ophthalmology, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report in "Best Children's Hospitals."

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