UW News

October 23, 2008

Department of Rehabilitation receives two national grants

The UW Department of Rehabilitation Medicine has been awarded two grants to pursue research projects on multiple sclerosis (MS), and aging with a physical disability. Both grants are funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research in the U. S. Department of Education and each is funded at $850,000 per year or $4,250,000 for five years each, or for a total of $8,500,000 for the five years.


The first grant is the competitive renewal on the department’s Multiple Sclerosis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center at the UW which is completing its second five-year cycle. George Kraft and Kurt Johnson, professors in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, are principal investigators on the project. The interdisciplinary center, which includes rehabilitation medicine, neurology, rehabilitation psychology, rehabilitation counseling, and speech and language pathology, conducts programs focused on providing new knowledge and improving rehabilitation methodology and service delivery systems for people with MS.


The second grant for the National Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with a Physical Disability is new. Mark Jensen, professor and vice-chair for research the in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, is the principal investigator on this grant.


An innovative aspect shared by both grants is the measurement core which will focus on improving the quality of patient reported outcome measures.