The AURORA study on trauma officially launched on September 25, 2017 at the Rhode Island Hospital, enrolling its first patient at that location on the same day. Shortly after, on September 27th, active patient enrollment started at both Indiana University and the University of Florida Health, Jacksonville. Other enrollment locations are rolling out over the coming weeks.
The AURORA study is a major five-year national research initiative led by the University of North Carolina and Harvard that looks to improve the recovery of individuals who have experienced a traumatic event. Its goal is to develop predictive and diagnostic biomarkers and urgently needed preventive/treatment interventions for civilian trauma survivors, military service members, and veterans.
To achieve this goal, AURORA is enrolling 5,000 trauma survivors at 13 leading U.S. emergency departments, and following patients for one year using state-of-the-art, multimodal assessments. AURORA includes the efforts of more than 40 investigators at more than 20 leading academic centers around the U.S. To aid in the patient data collection, through the support of Verily Life Science, each patient will receive a ‘Study Watch’ that collects a complex suite of physiologic data including heart rate, electrocardiogram and movement. Through AURORA’s partnership with Mindstrong Health, each patient will also interact with a smartphone app that has a proprietary keystroke assessment technology that allows neurocognitive assessments in real time as well as additional data.
The AURORA study is supported by a $21 million National Institutes of Health grant. Recognizing significant gaps in this funding that prevent the investigators from fully accelerating and exploiting the opportunity that this large cohort of patients represents, it is One Mind’s intent to fundraise and provide the AURORA study with $7.9 million over the next five years.
Read more about the AURORA study and how you can support it.