Kessler Foundation, Inc.

Kessler Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, conducts disability and rehabilitation research as a prime recipient of federal grants and minor contract work, with 75% of recent awards held as prime positions and 25% as sub-recipient or subcontractor roles across a diverse agency portfolio.

The foundation's federal footprint centers on clinical and translational research in neurorehabilitation, cognitive recovery, employment support for persons with disabilities, and assistive technology development. Recent prime grant work includes a $2.73 million Defense Health Agency award (CFDA 12.420) to develop personalized cognitive integrated motor training using virtual reality for gait and balance improvement in military service members, a $3.998 million Defense Health Agency project investigating powered wearable orthotics for upper extremity function in spinal cord injury, and a $962,999 National Institute of Standards and Technology grant (CFDA 11.617) to upgrade the MRI scanner at the foundation's Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center. Kessler also holds multiple National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awards investigating spasticity treatments via extracorporeal shockwave therapy ($385,776) and transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation for blood pressure regulation ($562,228), both under CFDA 93.865. The National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research funds several multi-year projects: a $2.73 million grant on cognitive motor training for fall prevention in older adults with mild cognitive impairment, rehabilitation robotics and neuromodulation research spanning five years with collaborators at Rutgers and New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the Northern New Jersey Traumatic Brain Injury Model System center. Kessler holds a K23 Career Development Award from NICHD on physical activity promotion in transition-age youth with autism spectrum disorder. Two small VA purchase orders for biomarker development services and research psychologist services for diabetes intervention total roughly $44,000.

The top five funding agencies by award count represent 62% of recent awards. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living leads with 27 awards, followed by the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (15 awards), the Defense Health Agency (15 awards), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (13 awards). When ranked by potential dollar value, the Veterans Health Administration Veterans Integrated Service Network 2 anchors the portfolio at $308,000 in combined potential value across nine awards, though this reflects a very small contract slice relative to the grant-dominated portfolio. The recompete cliff for the next twenty-four months involves 15 awards with combined potential value of only $10,000, suggesting minimal near-term contract renewal exposure.

Kessler acts as sub-recipient on roughly 33 federal grants led by universities and research centers. Named prime grantees include Langston University (equity in employment domain research and training), the University of Wisconsin–Madison (advanced postdoctoral rehabilitation training on employment), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ENRICH Brain Health Project and traumatic brain injury outcomes research), the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (vocational services delivery for spinal cord and brain injury), Rutgers University (dyslexia treatment modeling), the University of Delaware (spinal cord injury rehabilitation and nursing research), the Ohio State University (comparative effectiveness of TBI rehabilitation approaches), the University of Illinois (physical activity behavioral intervention for multiple sclerosis), and the University System of New Hampshire (disability employment research trends and job-crafting interventions). Kessler provides recruitment support, data collection, regulatory approvals, subject enrollment, protocol implementation, and research coordination under these sub-awards.

The foundation's research infrastructure includes the Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center with a 3 Tesla MRI facility, serving researchers across northern New Jersey including Rutgers, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Montclair State University. Work is performed in West Orange and East Hanover, New Jersey, with regulatory and IRB oversight embedded in sub-recipient roles. Primary NAICS classifications center on research and development in physical, engineering, and life sciences, and research and development in social sciences and humanities, reflecting the foundation's mission-driven research posture. Recent activity shows eight awards in 2025 and six in 2026 (through September), down from a peak of eighteen in 2024, consistent with the multi-year grant cycle typical of NIH and disability research funding. Combined obligated dollars across all awards total $155.5 million against a combined potential value of $569,000, reflecting the distinction between awarded-but-not-yet-invoiced grant ceilings and actual cumulative spend across decades of research relationships.