As the result of your effort and commitment to helping your fellow Veterans and us achieve our mission to help you, the VA has decided to open a satellite TRACTS site in Houston Texas. This is fantastic news for a couple of reasons. It has always been our vision that TRACTS would develop into a network of strategically located sites that can serve a diverse Veteran population across the entire United States. This is our first step toward that goal. It also means that our research can progress at a much faster pace, so that we can continue to understand the challenges you face and develop new therapies sooner to help you meet these challenges. So...[drum roll please]...

TRACTS would like to welcome Dr. Ricardo Jorge and his Houston group to our team!

Dr. Ricardo E. Jorge is the new Director of the Houston Site of the TRACTS, located at the Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center. He also serves as Assistant Director of the Brain Injury Program of the Beth K and Stuart C Division of Neuropsychiatry, and is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA.

Dr. Jorge has committed his professional career to
understanding some of the emotional challenges that can occur following traumatic brain injury (TBI) or stroke. This includes complications such as changes in mood and anxiety, and in expressing and controlling ones emotions. These are complications that we often see in Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, so we know that Dr. Jorge can help us gain a better understanding of the problems you face. Dr. Jorge has long been interested in developing new treatments for depression so, teamed with our investigators in Boston, we will develop a program of treatment for our Veterans with mild TBI and posttraumatic stress using non- invasive brain stimulation therapy.

A bit of background: Dr. Jorge received his medical education and training in Neurology and Nuclear Medicine at Buenos Aires University, Argentina. He moved to the USA in 1998 and completed his Psychiatry residency at the University of Iowa. He joined the faculty at the Department of Psychiatry of the Roy C and Lucille A Carver College of Medicine where he achieved the rank of full Professor. Dr. Jorge moved to Baylor College of Medicine in 2013.

We thank you all for your participation in TRACTS. We value your commitment to our mission!