Few NFL owners have their own medical research centers. Then it makes sense that Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen will fund studies into brain injuries in Seattle, according to the Seattle Times.
Officially announced Thursday, the idea originated last year when Allen met with NFL concussion expert Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, who is based at the University of Washington.
The result will be a a two-year, $2.4 million study by scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science and the University of Washington in Seattle.
Allen is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft and also owns the NBA Portland Trail Blazers as well as part of the MLS Seattle Sounders. His fascination with neuroscience has helped to fuel the research project.
The key to the project is the brain bank that Group Health owns. It includes 500 brains donated over 25 years, a number that is estimated to be the biggest in the world to draw from the general population.
Ellenbogen said NFL officials will tour the project next month in conjunction with the Seahawks' game in Seattle against the New Orleans Saints.
-- Bill Bradley, contributing editor
