# Center for Functional Electrical Stimulation

> **NIH VA I50** · LOUIS STOKES CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · —

## Abstract

The Center for Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES Center) is a 25 year consortium that develops and deploys
rehabilitation treatments based on functional electrical stimulation (FES) for Veterans and civilians with neurological,
autonomic, psychiatric, pain, and other disorders. The VISION of the Cleveland FES Center is broad - to perform
cutting edge research and creative engineering, and to then transition these discoveries and technologies into the
clinical environment to create effective, clinically-available options for patients and the people who care for them. The
MISSION of the FES Center, however, is very clear and tightly focused - to develop interventions based on the
electrical stimulation of the nervous system to replace or compensate for natural neural function lost due to
neurological disease or injury. The scope of FES Center research has evolved and expanded significantly during the
current five year funding cycle to reflect new scientific discoveries and new clinical opportunities. This proposal
represents this evolution and thus describes the five research thrusts of the FES Center for the next five years: (1)
MOVEMENT RESTORATION: restoring limb, respiratory, and other body movements; (2) BRAIN HEALTH: brain
stimulation interventions for movement disorders (e.g., Parkinson's disease), stroke and traumatic brain injuries,
epilepsy, and neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as brain recording technologies; (3) PAIN: pain mitigation through
stimulation of peripheral nerves and the spinal cord; (4) AUTONOMIC SYSTEMS: autonomic nervous system
stimulation for restoration and/or regulation of internal body and visceral functions; and (5) TECHNOLOGY AND
TOOLS: development of basic stimulation techniques, implantable systems and electrodes, modeling and simulation
tools, and other rehabilitation approaches complementary to FES. These seemingly diverse research thrusts in fact
share a deep foundation of basic knowledge, use similar and often identical technologies, and rely on a proven
model of genuine clinical-technical partnerships. The FES Center has built a critical mass of investigators in each of
these research thrust areas, and will continue to pursue research in important new clinical areas where FES may
provide effective treatments. FES Center research thrusts are tightly aligned with the priorities of the VA RR&D
Service, and FES Center investigators are leaders in the national and local rehabilitation communities.
 The FES Center operates with core funding from the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service and
uses these resources to broadly enable the success of its investigators by providing a unique technical infrastructure,
specialized research services (regulatory, statistical, medical illustration, inter-institutional administrative support),
development of key industrial and academic relationships, and communication to potential patients, other scientists,
and to the general public. The consortium structure ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10043833
- **Project number:** 5I50RX002359-04
- **Recipient organization:** LOUIS STOKES CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert F. Kirsch
- **Activity code:** I50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-10-01 → 2022-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10043833

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10043833, Center for Functional Electrical Stimulation (5I50RX002359-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10043833. Licensed CC0.

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