NYU Langone Medical Center will launch the first mental health consortium of its kind in New York City dedicated to improving the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury, thanks to a $1.5 million to gift from the Home Depot Foundation.

The funding will make it possible for the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center at NYU Langone to spearhead the establishment of the Greater New York City Military Family Clinic Consortium Coordinating Center. The center's principal mission is to create an integrated mental healthcare network of academic medical centers that provide mental health services to veterans and their families.

In addition to NYU Langone and its Cohen Veterans Center, the consortium will include Columbia University Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College, all of which have affiliations with the U.S. Veterans Administration.

[See also: Rush matches vets with health IT work and NIH, DoD to develop traumatic brain injury database.]

The Consortium Coordinating Center will oversee the integration of treatment services, care standardization and staff training for a network of clinics – sponsored by the member institutions of the consortium – that treat veterans with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. The center will also evaluate clinical outcomes and coordinate research initiatives.

"The neurological and mental health needs of returning veterans are vast, with many experiencing multiple emotional problems resulting from PTS and TBI," said Charles R. Marmar, MD, in announcing the gift. "Nearly one-third of the 15,000 veterans who live in the New York City area are plagued by these and other mental health challenges, which also affects their families."

Mamar is chair of the department of psychiatry at NYU Langone, director of its Cohen Veterans Center, and director of the newly-established Greater New York City Military Family Clinic Consortium Coordinating Center.

"Collaboration with researchers and clinicians at other academic medical centers is critical to accelerating efforts to identify objective biological mechanisms that underlie neuropsychiatric conditions like PTSD and TBI, Marmar added. "Ultimately, through this effort we hope to have in place a coordinated mental health consortium that will provide veterans and their families with integrated, evidenced-based care."