Kessler Foundation Awarded $250,000 Stroke Research Grant

The Kessler Foundation in West Orange was recently awarded a $250,000 stroke research grant from the Wallerstein Foundation for Geriatric Life Improvement. 

The grant will allow Kessler to find better ways of treating hidden disabilities that often complicate recovery after a stroke, according to Dr. Anna Barrett, director of Stroke Rehabilitation Research at the Kessler Foundation. 

"Our stroke researches are please to receive this grant," Rodger DeRose, president and CEO of the Kessler Foundation said. 

"The Wallerstein Foundation recognizes Kessler Foundation's commitment to improving rehabilitation after stroke, and is encouraged by the advances being made by Dr. Barrett's research team," DeRose said. 

Paralysis and weakness are well-recognized complications, unlike hidden disabilities, which affect communication, memory, functional vision and perception of one's environment, Barrett said. 

"Even people with mild strokes can have hidden disabilities that are highly disabling, causing problems with many functions including self care, driving, reading and navigating one's surroundings," she said, adding, "often overlooked, these disabilities prolong hospitalizations and rehabilitation and increase the risk for injury and other complications."

The grant is especially welcome in these days of increasing competitiveness for grant funding. 

"Because of the challenges we face with federal grant funding," said Barrett, "this generous gift from the Wallerstein Foundation for Geriatric Improvement is most significant. This enables us to continue our investigation of promising treatments for hidden disabilities after stroke." 

One such therapy is prism adaptation therapy, which uses optical lenses to help correct a hidden disability called spatial neglect. 

Investigators at Kessler Foundation's Stroke Research Laboratory are studying which stroke survivors may be most likely to benefit from prism adaptation.

"Effective treatments will increase independence, decrease falls and accidents, and reduce the burdens on stroke survivors and their loved ones in the future," Barrett said. 

Barrett is also a professor of physical medicine & rehabilitation at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark and Chief of Neurorehabilitation Program Innovation at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange.