Shattered memories
Funding research to help restore memory after brain injury
Memory shapes who we are. It holds our relationships, experiences, skills, and sense of identity. When the brain is injured, those memories can become blurred, fragmented, or lost.
Why neurological research is urgently needed
Traumatic brain injuries, from concussions to severe brain trauma, can disrupt how the brain forms, stores, and retrieves memory. For some people, the effects may improve over time. For others, memory loss, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, and cognitive changes can last for months, years, or even a lifetime. Current science still does not fully explain why some people recover quickly while others face long term impairment. That is why neurological research is urgently needed.
The brain is one of the most complex systems in the human body. Memory depends on many interconnected pathways, and traumatic brain injury can affect those pathways in different ways depending on the location, severity, and nature of the injury. Some injuries affect short term memory. Others interfere with long term memory, attention, processing speed, decision making, and daily cognitive function.
The questions that remain
Despite progress in neuroscience, major questions remain unanswered.
- Why do two people with similar injuries recover differently?
- How do inflammation, nerve fiber damage, swelling, age, genetics, and prior health influence recovery?
- How can clinicians better detect subtle brain injuries that may not appear clearly on standard imaging?
- Most importantly, how can treatment move beyond managing symptoms toward restoring cognitive function?
Diffuse axonal injury, one of the most serious forms of brain trauma, can damage the brain’s white matter and disrupt communication between brain regions. Yet these injuries can be difficult to detect and treat with precision. Many current approaches focus on helping patients manage symptoms, while more research is needed to develop better diagnostic tools, more personalized care, and therapies that support memory, concentration, problem solving, and long term brain health.
What your gift supports
Your donation helps advance neurological research focused on traumatic brain injury, memory loss, and cognitive recovery. Support may help researchers better understand how brain injuries disrupt memory, why recovery varies from person to person, how hidden injuries can be detected earlier, and how future treatments may strengthen the brain’s ability to heal.
Memory loss is not just a medical symptom. It can affect identity, independence, work, relationships, and the ability to fully participate in life.
When someone loses access to parts of their past or struggles to retain new information, the impact reaches far beyond the injury itself.
With continued research, we can deepen our understanding of traumatic brain injury, improve treatment options, and create more hope for people affected by memory loss and cognitive impairment.
How the research fund works
We want you to know exactly where this program stands today.
- Where it stands. The Brain Injury and Memory Research Fund is new. We are in early conversations with research teams. No partnership has been signed and no grants have been made yet. We will name our research partners on this page once agreements are in place.
- Where your gift goes. Gifts made through the research giving option are set aside and used only for brain injury and memory research. They are tracked separately from gifts to our other programs. Gifts made through our general Donate page support all of our work, including this program.
- How projects are chosen. Our founder and board of directors will choose the projects we fund, using four criteria:
- A clear focus on traumatic brain injury, memory loss, or cognitive recovery
- Real potential to help people with brain injuries and their families
- Qualified researchers with a clear plan and budget
- A commitment to share results in plain language
- How we report back. Research donors will hear from us when a partnership is signed and when each grant is made. Each grant will be listed on this page, with who received it and what it will study.
Give to brain injury research
Every research gift goes into the Brain Injury and Memory Research Fund. Choose an amount:
- $100 to $500: research supporter. Grows the research fund. You receive updates as partnerships and grants are announced.
- $1,000 and $2,500: founding research donor. With your permission, your name is listed on this page as a founding donor of the fund.
- $5,000: leadership donor. Founding donor listing, plus an invitation to talk with our founder about the fund’s research priorities.
Prefer to give a smaller amount? Our general Donate page starts at $10 and supports all of our work, including this program.
Planning a larger gift? We would welcome a conversation about gifts of $5,000 or more, gifts from a donor advised fund, or a gift in honor or memory of someone you love.
Help restore what brain injury can take away
Every gift supports the search for better answers.
Your donation can help fund the science needed to better understand memory loss, improve recovery, and give more people the chance to rebuild their lives after traumatic brain injury.
Next program
Promote traffic safety and awareness
Every day, millions of people travel by car, motorcycle, bicycle, public transportation, or on foot. Most trips feel routine. But in an instant, an ordinary trip can become life changing.
