About Us

The mission of the USCF Brain and Spinal Injury Center (BASIC)
is to promote collaborative, translational research and clinical
investigation of injuries to the brain and spinal cord.

• translate basic neuroscience into clinical practice
• understand brain and spinal cord injury
• train the next generation of neurotrauma clinicians and scientists
• educate the public on neurotrauma research.

What is Neurotrauma? 

Traumatic injury to the brain and spinal cord can produce dysfunctions of movement, sensation, memory, and other cognitive functions. Every 21 seconds, someone in America has a brain injury and every 41 minutes, someone has a spinal cord injury. Traumatic injury to the nervous system is the most common causes of death in younger individuals, and the most common cause of neurological disability. Approximately 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury each year, and 5.3 million have chronic disability due to their injuries; approximately 12,000 Americans sustain a spinal cord injury each year, and approximately 200,000 are living with chronic injuries. The direct and indirect cost of these injuries is staggering, costing billions of dollars per year in medical costs and loss of productivity, and the personal loss and effects on the families of affected individuals is immense.  

Who studies neurotrauma and how are their findings implemented?

At the Brain and Spinal Injury Center (BASIC), investigators and associates represent a multidisciplinary group with diverse interests ranging from the biology of neural injury and repair to biomedical informatics for neurocritical care. Established in 2002, the Center consists of nearly 10,000 square feet of integrated basic and clinical research space to facilitate translational neurotrauma research.We are housed at SFGH, providing optimal integration of basic and clinical programs. BASIC also has an animal research core to facilitate translational research and pre-clinical testing of medical devices and therapeutics for brain and spinal cord injuries. The BASIC clinical research core is home to the new UCSF Critical Care Data Warehouse and is one of the 11 hubs for the new nationwide NIH-funded Neurological Emergencies Trials Network. BASIC investigators are supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Defense, National Aeronautic and Space Administration, and numerous foundations.

The SFGH Neurotrauma Program and BASIC have had great success translating the latest research findings into improvements in patient care, saving many lives that would have been lost less than a decade ago. These achievements have been recognized internationally, with a growing number of institutions in the United States and Europe beginning to replicate the model neurotrauma system developed at UCSF and SFGH. 

What is Translational Research?

Our view is that translational research involves not only moving research findings from the bench to the bedside (and vice versa) but also translation from the clinical research setting to medical practice in the community, i.e. directly applying the information derived from basic and clinical research to the patient.  Therefore, faculty at the Brain and Spinal Injury Center participate in basic and clinical research as well as educational endeavors that reach out into the community to inform medical workers (e.g. nurse practioners, emergency medical personnel, doctors, etc) as well as scientists and lay persons about the effects of neurotrauma and the most current treatments.  The Neurotrauma Program at SFGH and BASIC sponsor a yearly symposium on NeuroCritical Care of the Trauma Patient which provides up to date information on the latest treatments and research in neurotrauma.  .