Children who suffer brain injuries as the result of accidents or playing sports are expected to get more dedicated care at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU as the result of new funding.

The hospital announced Tuesday the receipt of a three- year grant totaling $2.9 million from the Children’s Hospital Foundation that will be used to enhance treatment and expand research into brain injuries, which are ranked as a leading cause of death and disability for children.

According to the hospital, the grant will allow creation of a new center that, in part, will focus on ensuring best practices are used in providing treatment, from intensive pediatric care to outpatient concussion recovery, and on conducting additional research on the impact of brain injuries on survivors.

Large gaps still exist in understanding the effects of injuries on children’s brain development, the hospital stated, and the grant will enable more study.

The investment of the money will in part go to create a registry of children with pediatric brain injuries and to continue work with other children’s hospitals on the development of policies for care and treatment.

“We’re all in this together to create the clear, gold standard for caring for children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury,” said Dr. Alia Marie Iqbal O’Meara, one of three VCU pediatric specialists who applied for the grant.

The hospital stated that the new center’s work could have more widespread effects. While the center will focus on children’s brain injuries, the hospital added that the resultant research and care should provide a model for understanding and treating a variety of conditions that affect brain health, such as stroke, tumors, sickle cell disease, autoimmune encephalitis, infections and uncontrolled seizures.