1. VA Rehabilitation Research: Achievements and Future Directions Meeting for VA IRB Chairpersons: August / 2012 Patricia A. Dorn, PhD, Interim Director

2. Department of Veterans Affairs To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.” Lincoln, 1865

3. RR&D Scientific Programs (alphabetical) RR&D Scientific Programs (alphabetical) Prosthetics/Orthotics/ Rehab Engineering Regenerative Medicine Sensory Systems: Hearing, Vision, Pain Social Reintegration Spinal Cord Injury Aging Brain Injury: TBI, Stroke Medical Comorbidity Mental Health Musculoskeletal Neurodegenerative Diseases 2

4. Mission of Rehabilitation Research and Development Service To discover knowledge and stimulate innovations that restore Veterans who have become disabled to their greatest possible functional capacity In their person In their families In their communities In their work places 3

5. Levels of Functional Recovery Molecule Cell, & Tissue 4

6. Scope of Rehabilitation Research and Development REPAIR: REPAIR: Research to repair injured organs and tissues Translational research to bring basic discoveries to clinical use REPLACE: REPLACE: Research to replace functions that cannot be repaired Encompasses research in devices, implants, pharmacological interventions RESTORE: RESTORE: Physiological and Psychological well-being 5

7. Another Perspective on Recovery and Reintegration... 6

8. 8 Examples of VA RR&D Research

9. Vocational Rehabilitation: Spinal Cord Injury–Veterans Integrated Program (SCI-VIP) Will introducing Supported Employment (SE) Services into SCI continuum of care improve employment outcomes compared to Treatment as Usual (referral to provider or agency outside SCI Center)? 5-year prospective RCT, multi-site Findings support inclusion Vocational Services in SCI continuum care – Integration: Key Element – Clinician, Leadership Support: Critical – SCI specific modifications Plot: % subjects answering ‘During this time period, did you have a paying job? 8

10. Vocational Rehabilitation: SCI-VIP Predictive Models Over Time for Employment (PrOMOTE) PrOMOTE is an extension of SCI-VIP – Employment Status – Levels of Supported Employment and Cost Effectiveness – Measures of Functional Abilities and Impairments, Quality of Life, Depression – Health status information 9

11. Wayfinding: Improved Mobility By combining computer vision with GPS, digital compass, Google Map© Now possible for individual with visual impairment to find their way to novel locations 10