RECOVER Program Research
Much remains unknown about how the brain sustains consciousness, and how consciousness recovery can be detected, predicted, and promoted. These uncertainties continue to challenge patients, families, and clinicians. The RECOVER Program is committed not only to providing the highest level of care possible, but to pushing the boundaries of what is possible through research. Through the coordination of clinical care and research, the RECOVER Program ensures that each informs and optimizes the other: its research questions are grounded in the realities of patient care, research can be conducted more rigorously through the program's systematic model of care, and cutting-edge techniques developed by research can be rapidly and ethically translated to patients and families. With Penn's unique, research-dedicated Rubenstein MRI suite, the RECOVER Program collects state-of-the-art neuroimaging in patients with disorders of consciousness.
The RECOVER Program collaborates with several groups including the Center for Resuscitation Science, the Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance and Spectroscopy, the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the Palliative and Advanced Illness Research Center, and institution across the world, to explore questions that include the following:
- How do brain networks function to sustain consciousness?
- How can technology help identify evidence of consciousness?
- How can recovery of consciousness, function, and quality of life be predicted?
- How are neuroprognostication decisions made, and how can they be improved?
- How can patients and families be better supported through the experience of brain injury?
- How can novel treatments improve and accelerate recovery of consciousness?