A $5 million gift has helped Wallingford-based Gaylord Specialty Healthcare launch a new research center aimed at breaking ground in rehab medicine.
The new Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation will employ Gaylord experts in brain and spinal cord injuries, complex strokes, amputations and pulmonary diseases to advance care for recovering patients.
“It is our goal that the Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation will become a source of transformational discoveries that will redefine the standards of care,” Gaylord President and CEO Sonja LaBarbera said in an announcement.
Researchers at the Milne Institute will work with Gaylord clinical staff to innovate on technology and treatment to help care for patients recovering from illness and injury. Staff members will also partner with corporations and foundations to conduct and disseminate research. Within the institute, one group will focus on applied technology and the other on recovery from ailments including COVID-19 infection, stroke and spinal cord injuries.
The center will be led by Peter Grevelding. Dr. David Rosenblum, a Gaylord physiatrist and researcher, will serve as medical director.
The institute is named for Carol and George Milne, Jr., Ph.D., retired executive vice president of global R&D and president of central research at Pfizer Inc.
“There is a critical opportunity to create new advances that focus on the whole patient, particularly as the population ages and faces challenges such as COVID,” George Milne said. “We strongly believe in Gaylord’s proven potential to make a compelling difference in the world of rehabilitative medicine.”
