UCLA’s department of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine received a $10 million donation from New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch for concussion research.
The money will go toward the newly renamed UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program, of which founder and UCLA professor of neurosurgery and pediatric neurology Dr. Christopher Giza’s primary objective is to create an age-specific concussion evaluation tool to determine how severe a concussion is and the correct method of treatment.
“Mr. Tisch’s generous gift will be an enormous game-changer, enabling us to create diagnostic tools customized to younger athletes,” Giza said in a University of California press release. “Currently, young athletes are assessed with adult tests – but kids aren’t little adults. With the right diagnosis and personalized care, kids can recover completely from concussion.”
UCLA will also look to work with pediatric neurologists to place an emphasis on concussion and brain injury prevention and treatment for young athletes.
“As the father of children who are athletes, and as an NFL owner, I greatly value the positive role that sports play in people’s lives and am personally concerned about sports concussions,” Tisch said in the press release. “UCLA runs one of the best youth concussion programs in the nation, and I’m honored that my gift will allow the program to accelerate and expand its efforts to help kids, parents and coaches understand how to prevent and treat concussions and enjoy the sports that they love.”
Tisch’s donation, the largest ever from an individual to a medical center for concussion research, is part of UCLA’s Centennial Campaign, which is looking to raise $4.2 billion by 2019.