Donate to Research

Tomorrow’s breakthroughs start with you

Every advancement at Shepherd begins with a question: What if recovery could be different, better? Your donation and investment in Shepherd’s research helps us answer that question again and again — on behalf of every patient and family that turns to Shepherd Center for hope, healing, and possibility.

Partner with us to:

• Fund clinical trials that give patients early access to promising therapies.
• Support translational research that moves discoveries from lab to bedside.
• Expand the Smart Tech Hub and AT Workshop, where patients and clinicians co-create solutions.
• Provide equitable access through virtual care and multilingual education in the Better Health Suite.
• Train the next generation of rehabilitation innovators through fellowships and research mentorship.

Your support can advance the future of recovery

Our approach is different. Research at Shepherd is embedded in clinical care, led by multidisciplinary teams, and focused on outcomes that matter most to patients: walking farther, breathing easier, regaining independence, returning to work, and living life fully.

From rethinking how assistive technologies are designed, evaluated, and scaled to market to pioneering data-driven care models and virtual delivery, your support ensures the next bold idea moves off the whiteboard and into a patient’s life.

Shepherd’s competitive advantage

The Accessibility User Research Collective (AURC)

The AURC is a national network of thousands of people with diverse backgrounds, stories, and needs for accessible technology. Our ability to quickly define the scope of a project, acquire the necessary IRB credentials and permissions, and select a cohort of trial participants through our network of patient-partnerships translates into an accelerated research timeline.

State-of-the-art facilities

As a nationally recognized facility where science, technology, and compassionate care converge to advance treatments, Shepherd’s campus of elite model systems hospital, laboratories, and new James M. Cox Innovation Institute seamlessly integrates data science and analysis, translational research, clinical expertise, assistive technology, sustainable wellness programming, and user feedback into a single collaborative ecosystem.

From concept to clinic to consumer

Unlike traditional research centers, our facilities are embedded within clinical care, ensuring discoveries are not just theoretical but immediately applicable. Patients participate as co-researchers. Clinicians become inventors. And the result is a pipeline of scalable innovations that raise the bar for neurorehabilitation globally.

Our rigor translates into real-world applications

• Wheelchair to walking: Through advanced neurorecovery analysis programs and assistive device trials, such as robotic exoskeletons, patients with spinal cord injuries are gaining mobility once thought unreachable.
• Advancing brain health: Our acquired brain injury research explores everything from neuroimaging and cognitive recovery to vocational outcomes, helping people re-enter the world with clarity and confidence.
• Data that drives care: Our Data Science & Analytics team holds the largest SCI dataset in the country, answering questions like: Who benefits most from which interventions? What treatment path leads to the best outcomes?
• Collaborating with innovators: From early usability testing to full co-design partnerships, Shepherd works with companies like Helius Medical, Kemtai, and Georgia Tech to bring cutting-edge technologies from concept to consumer.