2023 In Review: A Year of Breakthroughs, Collaborations, and Your Incredible Support
We are incredibly grateful for the year we have had and recognize how fortunate we are to have you here as a part of the Chuck Noll Foundation team.
2023 Grant Proposals
This year, we have received a record number of grant applications to the Foundation, with projects spanning from web and mobile-based symptom tracking, to biomarkers, to non-invasive techniques for brain imaging. We truly wish we could fund them all, but we are not yet there.
2023 Grant Recipients
Without further ado, we are excited to share the news with you first as your support has enabled us to fund the following new projects:
Drs. Pulkit Grover & Boyle Cheng- CMU and AHN, Deep Vibe: A Maximally, Minimally: minimally invasive, non-surgical technique for steerable deep brain stimulation for TBI treatment
Drs. Patrick Kochanek & Ruchira Jha- University of Pittsburgh, Burrow Neurological Institute, Cerebellar Neuroinflammation after mrTBI: the forgotten therapeutic target
Drs. Shaun Carlson & Yijen Wu- University of Pittsburgh, MRI as an imaging biomarker for recovery of brain bioenergetics following mrTBI
Dr. Julia Kofler- University of Pittsburgh, in support of the National Sports Brain Bank
The National Sports Brain Bank
2023 also saw the official launch of the University of Pittsburgh National Sports Brain Bank, which the Foundation is proud to play a key part in funding. Not only did the announcement receive two remarkable brain pledges from former Pittsburgh Steelers Jerome Bettis and Merril Hoge, but its establishment was embraced overwhelmingly by our friends and partners at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) at their annual conference.
The support and partnership of the AANS is just one example of how collaboration is so vital to the work we do. Only through the sharing of expertise, connections, and the fostering of relationships are we able to truly grow as a Foundation, especially as one which seeks to diminish the impacts of sports-related head injuries as we do.
Women's Concussion Study
This year we also established a new collaboration with Magee-Womens Research Institute! Together, we launched a project with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh to look at how head injuries impact female athletes’ reproductive health. Outcomes from this study could help fill gaps in brain injury research that still exist around how female bodies recover from brain injuries.
Thank You For Your Support
To round out our reflections, we are grateful for each and every friend and donor who joined us on the green for our 2nd Annual Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research Golf Outing raising a record total of $244,141, clinked glasses with us for our Women’s Cocktail Reception, or joined us in supporting the many projects investigating innovative ways to better track brain injuries, understand their impacts, and find ways to alleviate the symptoms of sports-related head injuries throughout the year. You make this work possible: Thank you!
One gift in particular stood out among this generosity, however, from a young woman named Bella. Her $5,000 donation was not only kind, but came from her tenacious desire to help children similar to herself: athletes who sustained a concussion while playing the sport they love. You can read Bella’s full story on our website.