Research Institute for Brain & Body Health

The Center for Discovery is committed to advancing scientific understanding and standards of care through its interdisciplinary research program. The Center has engaged in groundbreaking research for more than a decade, including the development of a world-renowned Lab School classroom with sophisticated behavior imaging technology, biometric sensors, and computer vision technology—allowing our experts to provide data on how students with autism respond to their environments and on how stress contributes to challenging behaviors. This research has identified individual triggers and offered insights into how students can learn adaptive behaviors to better manage stress and improve functioning.

The Center is now establishing a Research Institute for Brain and Body Health in partnership with physicians, research scientists, data analytic scientists, clinicians, academic colleagues, philanthropic partners and others within our community, and around the world. The Research Institute will facilitate pioneering studies related to brain and body health, including studies designed to improve and empirically validate a variety of supports for complex conditions. These studies will inform interventions, techniques, and tools for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, complex medical frailties, Alzheimer’s and dementia, and more.

The Research Institute will be an integrated research environment where no boundaries exist between science, medicine, and application of clinical practice. The Research Institute will feature six integrated laboratories, spanning all areas of our HealthE6 model, allowing The Center to conduct studies across the following scientific and clinical disciplines:

• Energy Regulation and Physical Activity
• Stress, Behavior, and Cognition
• Neuroimaging
• Nutrition, Farming, and Pharmacology
• Environmental Studies and Assistive Technology
• Data Analytics and Digital Health

Integral to our efforts is our focus on applied informatics, the use of cutting-edge technologies, computational software, and predictive analytics. Data analytics, digital health informatics, and our integrated laboratory setting helps us provide answers to individuals and their families by accelerating the process of research and improving the quality of research, making it possible to share data with other researchers. The development of individual algorithms and paths of care, precision medicine, is the ultimate goal of the research program.

For more information about supporting the Research Institute, please contact Michael Rosen, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Communications, at mrosen@tcfd.org.