Why Barrow?

Full disclosure: Both Chelsea and I have personal connections to Barrow Neurological Institute, which we’ll tell you more about soon.

The official spiel: Barrow Neurological Institute is located in Phoenix, Arizona and is ranked time and again as one of the best neurology and neurosurgery care centers in the United States and internationally. Its neurosurgery residency program is the largest and most sought-after in the world; its annual clinical volume is among the highest in modern healthcare; and its clinicians and researchers are devoted to providing excellent patient care and finding better ways to treat neurological disorders. Barrow is home to the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center, Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Disease Center and Barrow Brain Tumor Research Center. Nearly every neurological condition you can think of, from Alzheimer’s and concussion to stroke and spinal tumors is treated there.

How we really feel about it: Learning about the work that happens at Barrow is like handing the X-Files’ 1993 Scully an iPhone after she just helped put down that rogue C.O.S. system and being like, “Meet Siri.” This is to say, Barrow makes your brain explode with possibilities that didn’t really seem like they could be possible just a short time before.  Because we want you to believe, here are some favorite examples:

• Physicians at Barrow routinely reattached heads and are all like, “#NBD.”
• Therapists at Barrow can help paralyzed people walk, Edge of Tomorrow-style.
• Researchers at Barrow parkour right past that pesky blood-brain barrier and deliver drugs—small enough to fit thousands of particles on a single strand of hair—directly to deadly brain tumors. 

Aside from the above mentioned personal connections to Barrow, Geeky Giving has chosen the institute as its current beneficiary because we want more amazing stories like these in the world and we believe by funding the research of the scientists and doctors at Barrow we can help make that happen. Want to help? Learn how to get involved with Geeky Giving. Or make a donation.