WEST ORANGE, NJ -- (Marketwire) -- 01/16/13 -- After successfully securing $10.8 million in external grant funding in 2012, Kessler Foundation is poised to make even greater discoveries to improve quality of life for people with disabilities.

The amount represents the highest-ever annual total in Kessler Foundation history. This figure more than doubles the $4.05 million in funding generated in 2011, according to Rodger DeRose, the Foundation's President and CEO.

"This record research funding -- in this competitive economic environment -- illustrates the respect for Kessler Foundation scientists within the medical research community," DeRose says, "and underscores the evolving role of Kessler Foundation in developing better ways to overcome disabilities of cognition and mobility."

Among the top funders: Federal and state agencies, specifically the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Education/National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and the New Jersey Commissions on Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research; clinical research organizations, device manufacturers, national organizations such as the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation and local organizations such as the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

Highlights include:

• A $2.2 million, five-year model system grant through the U.S. Department of Education/NIDRR to fund comprehensive rehabilitation services for people with traumatic brain injury.
• A $596,000, three-year NIDRR grant to study optimal treatment for hidden disabilities in survivors of right-sided stroke.
• A $738,000, three-year NIH grant to study the role of environmental factors in rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with spinal cord injury.
• A $44,000, one-year study funded by the NMSS to measure the cognitive effects of the use of iPads to provide intellectual enrichment in people with MS.
• A $366,000, two-year NIH grant to study the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function in patients being treated for cancer.
• A $554,000, five-year NIH grant to study the role personality, coping and health-related behaviors play in unemployment of individuals with multiple sclerosis.
• Two three-year grants ($660,000) from the NJ Commission on Brain Injury Research to study ways to improve cognitive function after traumatic brain injury.

DeRose credited Dr. John DeLuca, Kessler Foundation's Vice President for Research and Training, with the Foundation's international reputation for excellence. "Dr. DeLuca's role is fundamental to the growth in the scope and influence of our research," DeRose said. "Under his leadership, our scientists are advancing the understanding of disabilities of cognition and mobility and developing new ways to rehabilitate people disabled by stroke, multiple sclerosis, cancer and injuries to the brain and spinal cord."

About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, the largest nonprofit organization in the field of disability research and employment, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition and mobility for people with multiple sclerosis, brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury, and other disabling conditions. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for job training and employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit kesslerfoundation.org. Follow Kessler Foundation on Facebook, Twitter (@KesslerFound) and YouTube.

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