TRC4 Awards $18 Million in Grants for Trauma Care Research

The Trauma Research and Combat Casualty Care Collaborative (TRC4), an initiative of The University of Texas System (UT System), today announced grant awards totaling $18,037,863. These grants will fund groundbreaking trauma research, product development, and preventative measures across UT institutions.

“Trauma remains the leading cause of death for individuals up to the age of 45 years. Despite the increasing burden of traumatic injury on the US population, trauma care and research receive minimal funding compared to other causes of death around the world. Thanks to the very generous support and funding from the UT Board of Regents and the Texas Legislature, these grant awards will lay the foundation for improving care and reducing deaths caused from trauma,” said Dr. James Bynum, TRC4 Executive Director. “TRC4 is firmly committed to pioneering trauma care research and improving patient care in Texas and for our service members. These awards highlight the depth and expertise across the UT System institutions and ensure future opportunities for commercialization, device development, and early career scientist growth.”

There are four Directed Award grants totaling $3,250,000 and 49 Competitive Award grants totaling $14,787,863. Recipients represent ten UT institutions across the UT System and include strategic collaborations, including the Department of Defense.

Directed Awards

  • UT Southwestern – $1,500,000. Novel Short Wave Assessment Tool in Texas (SWATT) to Enhance Burn Tissue Viability Assessment.
  • UT Health San Antonio – $250,000. Project TRUST – Trauma Recovery Using Support from Trauma-Informed-Care-Approach.
  • UT Health Houston / UT Health San Antonio – $500,000. Identifying SUR1/TRPM4 Polymorphisms to Reduce Contusion Expansion After Traumatic Brain Injury: Clinical Trial Planning Grant.
  • UT Health San Antonio / UT San Antonio / UT Tyler / UT Health Houston – $1,000,000. iRemedyACT: Identification and Remediation of Delays to Definitive Care of Critically Injured Patients in the Texas Trauma System (Remedy) with Advances in AI to Improve Care for Trauma (ACT)

Competitive Awards

  • UT Arlington – $781,064
  • UT Dallas – $1,099,560
  • UT Tyler – $199,999
  • UT San Antonio – $799,974
  • UT Rio Grande Valley – $500,000
  • UT El Paso – $200,000
  • UT Medical Branch at Galveston – $1,722,433
  • UT Health San Antonio – $3,195,899
  • UT Health Houston – $3,413,377
  • UT Southwestern – $2,875,557

The areas of research for these grants include clinical research, early career mentored research, pre-clinical and translational research, and proof of concept research.

The program focus areas included pre-hospital care, innovative and novel surgical support technologies, innovative and novel devices, drugs, and therapies, clinical practice techniques, trauma system registries and information management, and advanced complex wound management.

For more information about the 2024 TRC4 Grant Award Submissions, please visit: TRC4.org/Grants-Funded.

About The University of Texas System

With 14 institutions that enroll over 256,000 students overall, the UT System is the largest university system in Texas and one of the largest public university systems in the United States. UT institutions produced over 63,000 graduates last year and awarded more than one-third of the undergraduate degrees in Texas, as well as 60% of the state's medical degrees. The combined efforts of UT-owned and affiliated hospitals and clinics resulted in over 10.6 million outpatient visits and more than 2 million hospital days in 2023. UT’s $4.3 billion research enterprise is one of the nation’s most innovative, ranking No. 1 in Texas and No. 2 in the U.S. for federal research expenditures. With an operating budget of $29.1 billion for fiscal year 2024, UT institutions collectively employ more than 122,000 faculty, health care professionals, support staff and students.

News Contact Information

UT System - Catherine Frazier: cfrazier@utsystem.edu • 512-499-4360 (direct)

TRC4 - Ken Mireles: Press@TRC4.org