South Carolina center aims to build resilience after trauma

The Medical University of South Carolina has been awarded more than $11 million by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences over five years to establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) to build resilience after trauma. The new center will be known as the BRIGHT Center (South Carolina Building Resilience through Innovative Interventions to promote Growth and Health after Trauma COBRE), News Medical Life Sciences reported Oct. 26. In 2021, more than 700,000 adults in South Carolina were diagnosed with a mental health condition, and more than 2.3 million South Carolinians lived in communities that did not have enough mental health professionals. The BRIGHT Center is trying to better the odds for trauma survivors by equipping a new generation of trauma researchers with state‐of‐the‐art resources and tools so that they can expand the impact and reach of trauma interventions. The center's overarching goal is to provide early‐career investigators with the mentoring and other resources they will need to conduct high‐impact trauma research now and in the future. It will support them as they develop and rigorously test innovative treatment and implementation strategies to improve access and quality of care for people affected by trauma and adversity. Ultimately, the center's goal is to make a difference in the lives of those affected by trauma in South Carolina and across the nation.