CHRISTIAN MESSA

Moody Endowment contributes $100,000 to brain injury research

Funding will support promising physical rehabilitation techniques

GALVESTON, Texas — When people exercise, can they rejuvenate their minds as well as their bodies? A University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researcher seeks to answer that question with his physical fitness studies involving people with brain injuries.

Dr. Kurt A. Mossberg, an associate professor of physical therapy in UTMB’s School of Allied Health Sciences, is conducting the studies at the Transitional Learning Center in Galveston to determine if brain-injury patients can improve their cognitive abilities through physical activity. TLC was established by the Moody Foundation of Galveston and is internationally recognized for innovative brain-injury rehabilitation and community reentry programs that help patients relearn daily living skills. It is a clinical partner with UTMB, which has multidisciplinary programs of excellence in the neurosciences and rehabilitation sciences.

According to the Brain Injury Association of America, approximately 5.3 million U.S. citizens live with disabilities resulting from traumatic brain injury. The Brain Injury Association of Texas states that more than 381,000 Texans are living with such disabilities.

The Galveston-based Moody Endowment Inc., an organization separate from the Moody Foundation, is supporting Mossberg’s physical training research with a $100,000 grant. His studies feature two sets of patients with traumatic brain injury. The first includes those with cognitive difficulties but few physical problems; those patients participate in such exercises as walking and running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bicycle. For the second group of patients, who have significant physical and mental impairments, therapists encourage and help them to move their legs on a treadmill, using special equipment to support their body weight as needed. “We’re trying to see if we can do some good for patients at both ends of the spectrum,” Mossberg said.

Such testing will be the first controlled trials ever conducted to determine how exercise might aid cognitive rehabilitation. The trials will include patients who are eager to participate in the physical training and those who are less enthused, which will help researchers better determine the effectiveness of exercise on cognitive function among a diverse patient population. “Thanks to the generosity of the Moody Endowment, we can explore novel approaches for successfully rehabilitating people with brain injuries back into society,” Mossberg said.

Added Dr. John D. Stobo, UTMB president, “UTMB and TLC are a powerful combination in the field of rehabilitation research. By making this collaboration possible, the Moody Endowment is supporting the development of practical solutions to help people who’ve sustained a traumatic brain injury. We are grateful for the chance to work on this important health issue.”

The Moody Endowment, established by the Moody family of Galveston, is dedicated to supporting TLC and enhancing the island community’s quality of life. The prominent family’s patriarch, W.L. Moody Jr., developed business interests in hotels, banks, newspapers, ranches and the American National Insurance Co., which he founded in 1905.

A staunch supporter of UTMB, the Moody Endowment has committed more than $2 million over the last 10 years to such programs and initiatives as neuroendocrine research, sleep studies and the Russell Shearn Moody Distinguished Chair in Cognitive Rehabilitation. Russell Moody recovered from a serious brain injury sustained in 1980. His father, Robert L. Moody, helped establish TLC in 1982 upon learning there were no comprehensive rehabilitation programs in Texas for people with brain injuries following the acute phase of their treatment. The prominent Galveston businessman and philanthropist sits on the TLC board of directors and is a member of UTMB’s Development Board.

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