Neurotrauma is the largest cause of death and disability for persons under the age of 45 in the world and the societal cost of the resulting disability exceeds $76 billion per year in the United States. The annual meeting of the National Neurotrauma Society (NNS) is the premier forum for exchanging information on the latest research findings and clinical advances in the fields of both traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI). The 38th Annual Neurotrauma Symposium will held June 27-July 1, 2020, at the Peachtree Westin in downtown Atlanta, GA. Previous NIH funding has been invaluable for supporting our scientific programs and for enhancing our ability to involve trainees and underrepresented groups (URG) and to enhance their careers. The symposium is again co-hosted by the NNS and the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care (AANAS/CNS JSNCC). The Scientific Program Committee is comprised of members of both societies to ensure that there is a breadth of coverage for both TBI and SCI across basic and clinical investigations, as well as committee representation of URG. Building upon decades of basic and clinical research, the meeting theme this year will be “Bidirectional Translation” to highlight not only the latest advances in the preclinical space and how these advances inform strategies for improving clinical outcome following neurotrauma, but also how real-world patient information can guide preclinical research. We have tried to incorporate speakers and topics that have not previously been emphasized in prior meetings and who represent URG. Topics include updates on cellular therapy for SCI, repetitive blast exposure, data sharing, opioid use following neurotrauma, and novel biomarkers, among others. In addition to dissemination of the most recent scientific and clinical findings, we will also highlight the population and policy ends of the translational pipeline. Taking advantage of being in Atlanta for the first time, the program will include the epidemiology of neurotrauma from the Centers for Disease Control. In addition, we will include advocacy as a plenary session, an idea developed from a very well received lunch workshop at the 2019 meeting. As in recent years, patient perspectives will provide personal viewpoints on living with brain and spinal cord injury, and their views regarding scientific priorities and advocacy. This application seeks funding to provide travel support for 25 trainees (including 5 full conference support awards to URMs or attendees with disabilities) to attend the Symposium, for child care assistance, and to support sessions dedicated to trainee development and to increases diversity and inclusion within the society and symposium. There will be three special lunch workshops hosted by our TEAM (Training, Education, and Mentoring) group on trainee fellowships, the NIH review process, and increasing diversity and inclusion in the trainee pipeline. This year we will focus on increasin...