Giffords walked around the new research facility with Dr. Gerard Francisco, director of the NeuroRecovery Research Center. The meeting was a reunion for both. Dr. Francisco led the medical team that treated Giffords while she completed rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in 2011.
Giffords is in town with her husband, Cpt. Mark Kelly, to welcome home brother-in-law NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly who just returned from spending the past year on the International Space Station. It was the first time Giffords has had the chance to see the new research center that officially opened last month.
“We’re always excited to see Gabby and appreciate her taking the time to visit the team,” says Dr. Gerard Francisco, chief medical officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann and Professor and Chairman of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department (PM&R) at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. “It’s been a few years since she was with us and this is a chance to show her some of the new things we are working on that could potentially help patients with brain injuries or other neurological conditions.”
The NeuroRecovery Research Center is a collaborative project among clinicians, scientists and engineers from TIRR Memorial Hermann and UTHealth.
To learn more about the NeuroRecovery Research Center and the clinical trials and studies currently underway visit tirr.memorialhermann.org or call 1 (800) 44-REHAB (73422).