WELCOME TO GREEN WAVE FOUNDATION
NEUROCRITICAL CARE BRAIN RESEARCH
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On March 19, 2016, Kevin Temple, 25 years of age, a dear son, brother, grandson & friend, lost his life due to traumatic brain injury, from an automobile accident. The family met with Dr. Stein & Dr. Parikh of the Maryland University of Medical Center’s R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Neurocritical Care Research Program. After family meeting with the research team, the family came to a decision to donate his brain to the Neurocritical Care Research Program. Kevin was the first person in the history of the University of Maryland Medical Center’s R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Neurocritical Care Research Program to donate his brain.
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Dr.Gunjan Parikh, University of Maryland's R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center Neurocritical Care Research Program
About Us
The family and friends decided to organize a foundation to raise funds for Dr. Gunjan Parikh, of the Maryland University of Medical Center’s R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Neurocritical Care, for his Traumatic Brain Injury Research. This foundation has been established as the Green Wave Foundation, Inc., non-profit,
tax-exempt foundation.
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Dr. Neeraj Badjatia, of the Maryland University of Medical Center's R Adams Crowley Shock Trauma Neurocritial Care Team. He has joined the team of Dr. Gunjan Parikh, for Trauma Brain Injury Research.
Letter from Dr. Gunjan Parikh
We are honored that you have allowed Kevin's brain tissue to be the first donation through the University of Maryland's R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center’s Neurocritical Care Research Program.
Every year, millions of Americans suffer from a traumatic brain injury, or TBI. When a TBI is as severe as Kevin’s injury, many victims never regain consciousness. Even those individuals who survive and wakeup, struggle for years to recover with varying degrees of success. Every TBI is unique, and the many unanswered questions of recovery underscore the need for further research. Research focusing on MRI and other sophisticated imaging tools can help doctors determine if an unresponsive patient has a chance of recovering vital brain functions.
The University of Maryland Medical Center has one of the largest critical care campuses in the United States with 180 critical care beds. The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center is the largest trauma center in the United States and sees 1,200 TBI visits annually. The 14-bed neurotrauma unit sees over 400 patients with moderate to severe TBI annually, as well as 150 cases of spinal cord injury every year.
Kevin’s gift will allow us to begin to understand the changes we see on a routine MRI after a head trauma by using sophisticated tools, like a higher resolution MRI and advanced digital pathology. We started by re-imaging his brain tissue. We will also apply immunostains that assess the degree of injury to axons and microscopic blood vessels both near the surface of his brain and through his brainstem — an area responsible for consciousness.
Your generosity and courage may help future doctors determine what brain functions can be recovered, and advance the development of medications and therapies that lead to the healing of injured nerve cells. So far, many treatments have been tested, but none have been shown to work in humans.
I am personally grateful to you for allowing us to advance our research program in its earliest stages. I hope that, if only in a small way, your family finds comfort in knowing that Kevin's gift will help to improve many lives in the future.
Again, thank you for this heartfelt commitment. Please accept our sincere condolences on the loss of your son, Kevin. It was a privilege to care for him and we only wish his outcome was better.
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R Adams Cowley
Shock Trauma Center
University of Maryland
For more than 40 years, The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center has been a worldwide leader in trauma care. Shock Trauma is the heart of Maryland's exceptional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) -- The first coordinated system in the country and a national Model of excellence. To date, more than 150,000 people have been cared for at Shock Trauma.
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Our Story
is one of continuous growth and improvement. From humble beginnings as small organ recovery programs running out of hospitals in Baltimore, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., we grew; first, into two of the most successful organ procurement organizations in the country; and then, into one powerhouse organization serving almost 10 million people in Maryland and the metro DC area.
Our commitment to saving and enhancing lives through organ, eye and tissue donation has remained steadfast throughout it all.
Now? Our history continues to write itself. As two organizations come together, our mission and our mandate to save and enhance lives grow in tandem. We remain committed to supporting our donor families, helping the thousands in need of a lifesaving, or enhancing transplant, and serving our community, no matter where they are or what name we do it under.
Our work has kept us on the forefront of research, technology, and innovation in the transplant field. Participation in projects such as the first organ donor education program for teens on the East Coast, the first full facial transplant in Maryland, the first organ delivered via drone for a transplant, and countless more have made us leaders in the industry over the years.
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