Practical resources, safe recovery guidance, and support for daily life.

Our primary mission is protecting the men and women who serve. We take the latest brain science and turn it into clear, everyday tools to help you and your family navigate head injuries and recovery.

• Clear Return-to-Duty Protocols: We use evidence-based "Return-to-Learn" and "Return-to-Duty" steps. These guidelines help ensure you only return to field duties or training when your brain has healed, protecting you from more injury.
• Family Support Guides: Access step-by-step toolkits, educational guides, and home-care strategies to support recovery alongside your military healthcare team.

Download Family Recovery Guides | Find Local Health Resources

Funding opportunities, clinical networks, and collaborative science.

We partner with leading academic institutions and private innovators to solve complex challenges in brain trauma and neurological recovery.

• Targeted Funding Priorities: Most funding opportunities are managed through the Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health Research Program. Priority areas include:
  • Understanding how brain injuries occur.
  • Preventing injury and measuring blast exposure in real time.
  • Developing fast diagnostic tests, including blood biomarker tests.
  • Improving treatments for acute concussions and chronic symptoms.
• Collaborative Research Networks: Scientists can collaborate through nationwide research groups like the CARE Consortium, which analyzes long-term clinical data, brain imaging, and blood biomarkers.
• Open Data Standards: We use standardized common data elements across studies to ensure research is transparent, rigorous, and easy to share across institutions.

View Open Funding Opportunities | Access Common Data Elements

Program oversight, funding metrics, and force readiness impacts.

Our research bridges federal investments and tactical defense readiness, ensuring every policy decision rests on solid scientific evidence.

• Responsible Stewardship: We invest federal appropriations into rigorous, peer-reviewed medical studies that directly protect service member survivability and performance.
• Rapid Solutions for the Field: Funding moves discoveries from university labs to front-line defense. Recent successes include FDA-cleared rapid blood tests for concussion and wearable sensors that monitor blast exposure.
• Accountability & Oversight: Every funded program adheres to strict federal reporting guidelines, regular audits, and public transparency.

Read Congressional Briefings | Download Annual Reports

Long-term monitoring, polytrauma care, and lifetime advocacy.

Our commitment does not end when service members take off the uniform. We work closely with Military and Veteran Service Organizations to support veterans living with service-related brain trauma.

• Long-Term Health Tracking: The DOW and NCAA CARE-SALTOS study monitors service academy graduates and veterans over decades to identify early signs of cognitive change and neurodegenerative conditions.
• Differentiating Symptoms: In partnership with the VA, our researchers work to distinguish chronic brain injury from PTSD, anxiety, and sleep disorders. This clarity helps clinicians prescribe the right treatments.
• Improving VA Clinical Care: Discoveries from defense research are integrated directly into VA Polytrauma Centers across the country, raising care standards nationwide.

Learn About Veteran Studies | Explore VA Polytrauma Care