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DISCOVERY THEMES

CHRONIC BRAIN INJURY PROGRAM

ADVANCING THE PREVENTION, DETECTION, AND TREATMENT OF BRAIN INJURIES

The brain is the body's most complex organ. It makes us who we are. It is critical to our abilities to speak, think, remember, interact, and move.

The Ohio State University is advancing how we understand and approach brain injury as a chronic condition. Even mild brain injuries can have persistent, long-term effects that impact our future health and wellness. Understanding, detecting, treating, and preventing these effects is essential to solving the silent epidemic of traumatic – or rather, chronic – brain injury.

ABOUT US

To accelerate discovery, our scientists and clincians are forming interdisciplinary teams that are translating knowledge, partnering with industry and community organizations, and expanding capacity to implement practical solutions.

Our researchers are:

  • Deepening an understanding of how brain injuries result in visible and chronic conditions and higher risk for dementia and movement disorders
  • Studying the mechanisms of the immune system's response to neurotraumas that will inform pharamlogical, rehabilitative, and arts-based interventions
  • Developing new approaches to imaging, sensing, and clinical data analytics that better detect, monitor, and predict the trajectories of brain injuries
PROJECTS & HIGHLIGHTS
LABS & PARTNERS LINKS
ANNUAL REPORT

We are investing in people, projects, and resources that enable convergence research in the lab, the clinic, and the community. Learn more about our program and offerings at the links below.

FUNDING & RESOURCES
RESEARCH DAY
ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

We've built a network of over 100 research labs at Ohio State in fields spanning neuroscience, electrical engineering, psychology, public health, music, and rehabilitation sciences. Through our community partners, we are building a coalition of professionals and patients to help brain injury survivors recover and thrive.

ENGAGE WITH CBI
OPEN POSITIONS

CBI Faculty Spotlight

Welcome Cole Vonder Haar, PhD!

vonderhaar.32@osu.edu

Dr. Cole Vonder Haar joined Ohio State and CBI January 7, 2021, from the Department of Psychology at West Virginia University. He is interested in finding viable treatment options, both behavioral and pharmacological, for the long-term dysfunction that occurs as a result of TBI and he is looking forward to developing new collaborations at Ohio State in the CBI and Neuroscience Research Institute communities. His research focuses on the modeling and treatment of long-term psychiatric-like deficits after traumatic brain injury, and uses a strong behavioral neuroscience approach to back-translate human neuropsychiatric assessments to our rats as well as tasks which are highly selective to specific behavioral deficits (e.g., impulsivity). While deficits in attention, decision-making, and impulsivity are well-recognized at the patient level, there is relatively little research focusing on these problems in animal models. Therefore, Dr. Vonder Haar's lab focuses in on these behavioral aspects alongside pathophysiological assessments.

NEWS

Chronic Brain Injury

Lise Worthen-Chaudhari Creates Revolutionary Gaming Therapy to Help Brain Injury Survivors

"How can gaming technology or virtual reality be a rehabilitation tool that engages someone recovering from a traumatic brain injury? How can it get them to enjoy the rigorous work? That’s the world Lise Worthen-Chaudhari lives in." A new article by Ohio State Insights details how Dr. Worthen-Chaudhari's revolutionary gaming therapy, Embedded Arts, helps patients recovering from brain injuries increase their range of motion control by creating abstract art through motion sensors.

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Chronic Brain Injury

2020 CBI Paper of the Year

Andrew Sas, MD, PhD was selected as the winner for CBI's 2020 Paper of the Year for his work entitled “A new neutrophil subset promotes CNS neuron survival and axon regeneration." His work was published October 26, 2020 in Nature Immunology, and you can read it at the link below. Congratulations, Dr. Sas!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Z-Lab Reveals Disconnect in Newborn Brains

Ohio State CBI faculty Zeynep Saygin (Ph.D) and fellow researchers have revealed a disconnect between visual and emotional regions in newborn brains. By studying development of this brain circuitry, we are closer to new diagnostics and treatments for emotional disorders.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Ginger Yang, PhD, Finds Success in 2017 CBI Pilot Award

Ohio State CBI affiliate, Ginger Yang, PhD, and her team have been awarded a $3 million R01 grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), in partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham Translational Research for Injury Prevention Laboratory (UAB) to further understand the effects of mild traumatic brain injuries on teen driving. The project funding was awarded to Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) and will be conducted at Ohio State’s Driving Simulation Lab and counterparts at UAB – further illustrating how indispensable interdisciplinary research expertise is when trying to conquer the chronic challenges of TBI.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Zeynep Saygin, PhD, Finds Brains "Prewired" for Language

A recent study by CBI faculty member Zeynep Saygin, PhD, has found novel connections to the language areas of the human brain. Dr. Saygin, senior author of the study and an Assistant Professor within Ohio State’s Department of Psychology, has revealed new research that suggests humans are born with a dedicated portion of the brain that is prewired to see words and letters – a necessary prerequisite for learning how to read.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Congratulations to the 2020 CBI SURF Fellows!

We at CBI are proud to award three Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF Awards) to Ohio State undergraduate students pursuing brain injury research with our faculty affiliates. Each student will spend the summer completing a research project and will present these projects at an upcoming seminar or conference. Fellowships support the student’s time, while the mentor provides project funding and training... Join us in congratulating our new fellows!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Dr. Quatman-Yates Publishes the First APTA CPG for the Care-Management of Concussion

Dr. Quatman-Yates and her team have made great progress in this front with their recently published Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) for the physical therapy management of concussion, which have been endorsed by the American Physical Therapy Association and its affiliated academies. This is the first CPG to provide detailed guidance on care-management strategies for physical therapists that are treating patients who have experienced a potential concussive event. Prior CPGs for concussion management have largely focused on sideline management, acute treatment, and return to sport protocols.....

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Chronic Brain Injury

2019 CBI Paper of the Year

Andrea Tedeschi, PhD., Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, won the 2019 CBI Paper of the Year for his work, "ADF/Cofilin-Mediated Actin Turnover Promotes Axon Regeneration in the Adult CNS", which was published in Neuron. This work described essential mechanisms for axonal regeneration in neurons following central nervous system injury, which may inform future regenerative interventions. Several publications were nominated for this annual award, and are listed on our Projects & Highlights page. Read Dr. Tedeschi's paper at the link below.

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Chronic Brain Injury

CBI 2019 Brain Health Hack Winners

CBI's annual weekend workshop for undergraduates saw teams build and develop mobile and virtual reality applications that address brain health research and clinical needs. Teams often bridged engineering and health sciences disciplines, and completed their applications in under 20 hours. Several projects were suggested by Ohio State and Nationwide Children's Hospital faculty, and successful teams will continue to develop their work in partnership with the sponsors. Congratulations to winning teams 119, Project Velvet, and VrNS!

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Chronic Brain Injury

CBI 2019 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows

CBI launched its Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) Awards in Spring 2019 to support training and development of outstanding Ohio State undergraduates through participation in basic, clinical, and translational research. SURF Fellows complete a research project with CBI faculty mentors during the summer semester. Congratulations to the inaugural SURF Fellows who will each receive $4,000 stipends for their project. Sebastian Bejarano, College of Engineering (Mentor: Liang Guo, PhD) Mahin Hossain, College of Medicine (Mentor: Jan Schwab, MD, PhD) Praneethkumar Madhu, College of Medicine (Mentor: Harry Fu, PhD) Matthew Moritz, College of Arts & Science (Mentor: Yune Lee, PhD)

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Chronic Brain Injury

Jonathan Godbout named interim faculty director for Chronic Brain Injury

Jonathan Godbout, PhD, has been named interim faculty lead of the Chronic Brain Injury (CBI) program, a focus area of the $500 million Discovery Themes initiative created by Ohio State to address global challenges.

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Chronic Brain Injury

CBI 2018 Paper of the Year

Congratulations to Harry Fu, PhD, for winning the CBI 2018 Paper of the Year! Harry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience, and was awarded $500 and a plaque for his accomplishment. This award recognizes scientific impact and contribution to chronic brain injury research.

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Chronic Brain Injury

CBI affiliate Lise Worthen-Chaudhari awarded 2016 Early Career Innovator of the Year

As Ohio State continues to expand its role in the commercialization of research, it is important to create an environment that facilitates and rewards research creativity and entrepreneurship. To support and stimulate entrepreneurial activity among Ohio State researchers, three university-wide awards were presented on January 25, 2017, to Ohio State’s most successful entrepreneurs.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Brain injury common in domestic violence

New research by CBI affiliate Julianna Nemeth suggests that brain injury caused by blows to the head and by oxygen deprivation are likely ongoing health issues for many domestic violence survivors. Because of poor recognition of these lasting harms, some interactions between advocates and women suffering from the effects of these unidentified injuries were likely misguided.

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