Midwest’s Only Holistic Brain Injury Treatment Program for Military Veterans and First Responders Adds Staff, Space Due to Rapid Growth

Milwaukee, Dec. 8, 2025 – In response to the overwhelming need for traumatic brain injury (TBI) recovery by military veterans and first responders, the BRAVE program – an initiative of the Wisconsin Institute of NeuroScience (WINS), a partnership of Children’s Wisconsin, the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network, the Medical College of Wisconsin, and the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center – recently moved to a larger facility. Less than two years after opening its doors and accepting its first patients, the program has relocated to a new clinic space in the Milwaukee County Research Park and is now based at 10200 Innovation Dr., Suite 800, in Wauwatosa.

BRAVE (Building Resilience through Action in Veterans and First Responders) is the Midwest’s first program for treating mild traumatic brain injuries, also known as concussions, in veterans and first responders. This intense, three-week outpatient program provides specialized diagnostic and comprehensive rehabilitation services designed specifically to help veterans and first responders overcome their “hidden wounds.”

BRAVE opened its doors in February 2024 and began treating its first participant two months later. Since then:

• 61 people have graduated from the program.
• Nearly 160 people have finished the three-day evaluation, a pre-requisite to joining the three-week program.
• More than 400 participant applications are in progress.

The new location more than triples the size of the program’s facility to 12,000-square feet, allowing for more and new therapies like QEEG brain mapping. To further meet the growing demand for care and increase access for more participants, the BRAVE program also doubled its clinical staff and continues to expand its community outreach efforts.

“By the nature of their work, almost every veteran or first responder has suffered some kind of trauma, but it’s not something many of them want to talk about,” said Greg Burek, PhD, Medical Director of the BRAVE program and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. “We’ve truly been amazed by the response – both the demand for treatment and how participants have responded to it.”

Care through the BRAVE program is interdisciplinary and personalized to the needs of each participant, not only because every brain injury is different, but because the supporting needs of each person may be different to allow for recovery.

“Brain injuries often result in mental health issues and, unfortunately, many of our participants have lived for too long with their injury,” Dr. Burek said. “Part of our job is to treat that entire person, so they can recover from their physical and psychological injuries.”

Mild to moderate TBI can result in a wide variety of physical and psychological effects. Symptoms – which may occur immediately after an injury or even weeks later – can include, among others:

• Anxiety, depression
• Impulsivity, irritability
• Difficulty sleeping
• Headaches, memory problems
• Dizziness or loss of balance
• Mood changes/swings

The BRAVE program was created with a $12.5 million gift from the Avalon Action Alliance, a national organization focused on the mental wellness of veterans and first responders. The Milwaukee site is one of only six nationwide – and the only one in the Midwest – that is supported by the Avalon Action Alliance and focused on TBIs. Avalon also recently committed to an additional gift that will support the involvement of BRAVE participants in clinical trials, expanding treatment and research opportunities through the program.