National program for traumatic brain injury surveillance and registries

The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may make grants to States or their designees to develop or operate the State’s traumatic brain injury surveillance system or registry to determine the incidence and prevalence of traumatic brain injury and related disability, to ensure the uniformity of reporting under such system or registry, to link individuals with traumatic brain injury to services and supports, and to link such individuals with academic institutions to conduct applied research that will support the development of such surveillance systems and registries as may be necessary. A surveillance system or registry under this section shall provide for the collection of data concerning— Not later than 18 months after April 28, 2008, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Director of the National Institutes of Health and in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress a report that contains the findings derived from an evaluation concerning activities and procedures that can be implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve the collection and dissemination of compatible epidemiological studies on the incidence and prevalence of traumatic brain injury in individuals who were formerly in the military. The report shall include recommendations on the manner in which such agencies can further collaborate on the development and improvement of traumatic brain injury diagnostic tools and treatments. The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may implement concussion data collection and analysis to determine the prevalence and incidence of concussion.