PROGRAM & HIGHLIGHTS

The Chronic Brain Injury Program (CBI) and our affiliated faculty, staff, and students are working to improve our understanding, detection, and treatment of brain injuries.

Learn more about our key projects and our latest team successes.

2022 CBI Paper and Image of the Year Competitions now open until 10/15/22

The Chronic Brain Injury Award Program (CBI) is pleased to offer the Paper of the Year and Image of the Year awards. These competitions serve to recognize and honor outstanding work produced by our academic community in FY22. Faculty, staff, and trainee affiliates of CBI are eligible for both competitions.

See attached guidelines below for details.

FY22 Competition Guidelines Submit Your Image

2021 Paper of the Year

Congratulations to Luke Lemmerman of the Gallego-Perez Lab!

All CBI faculty, trainees, and affiliates are eligible for this annual award, which recognizes an outstanding original research paper within the topic of “aging, neurotrauma or neurodegeneration”.

Luke's paper, “Nanotransfection-based vasculogenic cell reprogramming drives functional recovery in a mouse model of ischemic stroke", published March, 2021 in Journal: Science Advances, has been selected as the Chronic Brain Injury Program's 2021 Paper of the Year!

Other 2021 Nominees:

  • Barrientos Lab - Dietary DHA prevents cognitive impairment and inflammatory gene expression in aged male rats fed a diet enriched with refined carbohydrates
  • Faith Brennan - Acute post-injury blockade of a2d-1 calcium channel subunits prevents pathological autonomic plasticity after spinal cord injury
  • Kate Valerio - Machine learning identifies novel markers predicting functional decline in older adults
  • Ginger Yang - Association of Self-Paced Physical and Cognitive Activities Across the First Week Postconcussion With Symptom Resolution in Youth

You can view the winner and nominees of the previous competitions by visiting the "Translational Research" project section below!

OUR KEY PROJECTS

Pilot Awards

To support innovation in basic and clinical brain injury research, CBI offers seed grants to interdisciplinary teams of scientists. These pilot projects help teams form, develop preliminary findings, and publish papers in advance of large federally- or industry-funded grants. CBI is developing a clinical trials component to these grants to help test promising drugs, devices, and non-pharmacological therapies. A full list of our pilot projects is available here.

Data Repository

Led by investigators Jasmeet Hayes and Scott Hayes, the this project aims to deeply characterize brain injury survivors as they age. This effort will enable the team, along with other investigators at Ohio State and beyond, to closely study how chronic brain injury manifests over time and to identify biomarkers of cognitive decline and resiliency. Learn more about the MINDSET LAB and B-BAL LAB teams.

Seminars & Grand Rounds

CBI is building and supporting teams of researchers by convening scientists at our monthly seminars and quarterly grand rounds. These activities create collisions between scientists and clinicians from different disciplines. These connections are paramount to move discovery in the lab to interventions in the clinic or at home. A list of upcoming presentations is here.

Paper of the Year

Each calendar year, CBI recognizes the most impactful publication by our faculty affiliates. The 2020 nominees were:


Andrew Sas, et al. A new neutrophil subset promotes CNS neuron
survival and axon regeneration [WINNER]

  • Hojjat Adeli, et al. Upper Limb Movement Classification Via Electromyographic Signals
    and an Enhanced Probabilistic Network
    (Biomedical Informatics)
  • Marcie bockbrader, et al. Restoring the Sense of Touch Using a Sensorimotor
    Demultiplexing Neural Interface
    (Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation)
  • Jordan Moore (Research Assistant), et al. Nanochannel-Based Poration Drives Benign and Effective Nonviral Gene Delivery to Peripheral Nerve Tissue (Biomedical Engineering)
  • Zenyep M. Saygin, et al. The intrinsic neonatal hippocampal network: rsfMRI findings
    6 Abbreviated Title: The intrinsic neonatal hippocampal network
    (Psychology)
  • Andrea Tedeschi, et al. Gabapentinoid treatment promotes corticospinal plasticity and regeneration following murine spinal cord injury (Neuroscience)
  • Kathy Wright, et al. Neural Processing and Perceived Discrimination Stress in African Americans (Nursing)
  • Ginger Yang, et al. Barriers to the Implementation of State Concussion Laws Within
    High Schools
    (Nationwide Children's Hospital)

PREVIOUS WINNERS

  • 2019 - Andrea Tedeschi, et al. ADF/Cofilin-Mediated Actin Turnover Promotes
    Axon Regeneration in the Adult CNS
    (Neuroscience)
  • 2018 - Harry Fu, et al. A tau homeostasis signature is linked with the cellular and regional vulnerability of excitatory neurons to tau pathology (Neuroscience)

Ohio TBI Registry

Traumatic brain injuries are complicated due to varied causes (falls, traffic accidents, sports injury, violence), several at-risk groups (older adults, young children, active-duty military and veterans), and under-reporting of injury. Some estimates suggest up to 50% of concussions may go unreported, but even these mild traumatic brain injuries can have lasting health and life consequences. If we don't know about these injuries, we cannot help or study the survivors to improve their lives, or prevent others from injury.

To help connect injury survivors to medical care and research, CBI is developing Ohio's first voluntary registry in which brain injury survivors from around the state - or nation - can sign up to participate in research studies, regardless of if they have received care at Ohio State or other providers. Through this effort, we will improve our ability to do meaningful research for survivors who are struggling with the chronic effects of brain injury.

Check this page for future updates!

NeuroNights: Survivor and Caregiver Workshops

CBI and Ohio State's Outpatient Rehabilitation teams host monthly workshops for brain injury survivors and their families focused on promoting lifelong wellness after brain injury. Supported by undergraduate student volunteers from Buckeyes Raising Awareness in Neuroscience (BRAIN), these workshops will bring experts from across Ohio State's campus to educate and enable the brain injury community to adopt healthy behaviors, navigate financial and legal challenges, and generally encourage independent and productive living.

Learn more about NeuroNights here.

Connect & Collaborate: Community Partners in Research

Improving the Quality of Life of Chronically Ill Individuals Through Financial Coaching | Caezilia Loibl et al.

Brain injury, like other chronic illnesses, can result in financial challenges and caregiver burden, including debt, loss of income, and high stress. This project brings Ohio State researchers in Education & Human Ecology, John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Ohio State Extension, Kirwan Institute, and Ohio Valley Center together with community and industry partners including Brain Injury Association of Ohio, Apprisen, and WesBanco Bank to develop best practices and measure impact for financial coaching of brain injury survivors and caregivers. Patients at Ohio State are enrolled in regular financial coaching sessions that focus on setting goals and overcoming barriers to improve financial security, social participation, and quality of life.

Drum-Dance Rehabilitation | Yune Lee et al.

Demand for non-pharmacological interventions for Parkinson's disease has been increasing, as standard treatments for neurodegenerative diseases are costly and sometimes invasive. Brain injury survivors are at a higher risk for Parkinson's, so drug-free interventions can help survivors avoid and mitigate chronic effects of brain injury. This project is developing a novel therapy that combines dance and rhythmic drumming to improve outcomes and decrease financial burden of Parkinson's patients. Fostered by a partnership between Ohio State's Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences, School of Music, Wexner Medical Center, and community organizations Delay the Disease and Parkinson's Foundation of Ohio, this project features fitness classes, neuroimaging assessments, and a new service-learning course.

A Virtual Reality App to Improve Youth Concussion Recognition | Ginger Yang et al.

To address growing concerns about youth sports concussion, all 50 states have enacted concussion laws that require all athletes, parents and coaches to be educated about concussion. However, there is little guidance on how this education should be provided and often leaves youth athletes unable to recognize the signs of concussion or understand the importance of reporting. This project is developing a novel virtual reality simulation of concussion symptoms to better prepare youth to recognize and report these symptoms. This team brings together Nationwide Children's Hospital, Ohio State's School of Communication, the Mid-Ohio Select Soccer League and COSI to develop the app and test it with two youth soccer teams in advance of a large federal grant.

Blast Injury in Veterans

fNIRS Imaging Core

Biomechanics Monitoring

Data Systems for Coordinated Care

Get involved with these projects by clicking HERE.

HIGHLIGHTS

2022

Chronic Brain Injury

Drs. Popovich, McTigue, and Godbout leading the way in microglia research with first-ever findings!

Dr. Popovich, lead a recent study together with additional researchers, including CBI members Jon Godbout and Dana McTigue. The study, 'Microglia coordinate cellular interactions during spinal cord repair in mice' was a first-ever study where the researchers demonstrated microglia promote repair after spinal cord injury in mice via specific genes, pathways and cellular interactions. Read the study in Nature Communications below!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Dr. Asimina Kiourti appointed to an endowed professorship position, College of Engineering Innovation Scholar

This is one of the highest academic honors that can be bestowed on a faculty member by the College of Engineering and the university. National and international recognition of the highest level of intellectual leadership, excellence, and performance are expected in the appointment of a Professorship Holder in areas including research and scholarship, teaching/education, and professional service. Congratulations, Asimina!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Jinghua Li and team develop a ‘smart necklace’ biosensor that shows promise for tracking health status through sweat

Researchers have successfully tested a device that may one day use the chemical biomarkers in sweat to detect changes in a person’s health. In a new study published in the journal Science Advances, a team from The Ohio State University demonstrated a battery-free, wireless biochemical sensor that detected the blood sugar – or glucose – humans excrete from their skin when they exercise. Read more from Ohio State News below!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Dana McTigue, PhD awarded a 2022 President’s Research Excellence Accelerator Grant

Dr. Dana McTigue, College of Medicine, was awarded an Accelerator Award from the PRE Program for the "Discovery of Novel Therapeutic Targets to Improve Health Span after Spinal Cord Injury." Previous work shows the liver’s response to spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs recovery in rodents. In this project, the researchers will use multi-omics approaches to determine pathological gene and lipid changes that are feasible candidates for impairing recovery, with the goal of discovering testable therapeutic targets. Co-investigators: Richard Bruno and Rachel Kopec, College of Education and Human Ecology; Jie Gao, College of Medicine

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Chronic Brain Injury

We at CBI are excited to announce our 2022 Resource Award winners!

These grants provide over $30,000 to support new equipment that will benefit CBI faculty affiliates across campus: Cole Vonder Haar, PhD (Neuroscience) has been awarded a 2022 Resource Award to improve surgical anesthesia equipment for preclinical neurotrauma modeling in the Center for Brain & Spinal Cord Repair (CBSCR). These upgrades will triple the number of concurrent isoflurane users, reduce the amount and cost of anesthetic used per surgery, and improve user safety. Wenjing Sun, PhD (Neuroscience) has been awarded a 2022 CBI Resource Award to purchase an NPI MVCS Iontophoresis System to improve spatial precision in drug and/or gene delivery for both ex vivo and in vivo models of neurotrauma and neurological disease. This is a new resource for CBI affiliates which will support existing multi-college teams, and is available to new users.

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Chronic Brain Injury

CBI partnered with LiFEsports in the College of Social Work to provide a concussion and career education workshop in June 2022!

CBI is committed to outreach and educational activities that are critical to advance awareness of brain injury, and to enhance diversity and inclusion in neurotrauma research and clinical training. Since 2009, LiFEsports at Ohio State has grown to address the ever-changing needs of our community’s young people through positive youth development. Their work aims to impact the lives of those who need it most by addressing the broad social conditions that young people face, and we are so appreciative that we could partner with them. Read the story below!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Dr. Gallego-Perez receives $3.2M 4-year grant from the Department of Defense

Dr. Gallego-Perez (Biomedical Engineering) and collaborators, William Arnold (Neurology) and Amy Moore (Plastic Surgery) were awarded a $3.2M 4-year grant from the Department of Defense for their project ”Nonviral Gene and Reprogramming-Based Cell Therapies for Peripheral Nerve Injury”. This work will develop novel nanotechnologies which repair or mitigate traumatic nerve injuries that can be deployed in a variety of military and clinical environments. Congratulations, Dr. Gallego-Perez and team!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Congratulations to Asimina Kiourti, PhD!

Dr. Kiourti has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Kiourti also received an NIH R03 award with collaborators Yousef Hannawi (Neurology) and Asiful Islam for their project “High Resolution Microwave Tomographic Imaging of Brain Strokes Using Low-Frequency Measurements and Deep Neural Networks”.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Has the corticospinal tract been misrepresented over the last century?

A new publication in the Journal of Neurosurgery from Ohio State's Jan Schwab, MD, PhD and Dr. Allan Levi (U of Miami) demonstrates evidence that may have wide clinical implications in neurotrauma research and care: "A critical reappraisal of corticospinal tract somatotopy and its role in traumatic cervical spinal cord syndromes"

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Chronic Brain Injury

Andrea Tedeschi, PhD finds "the drug gabapentin may boost functional recovery after a stroke."

Results showed that daily treatment for six weeks after a stroke restored fine motor functions in the animals’ upper extremities. Functional recovery also continued after treatment was stopped. This work was published in Brain and funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, and Ohio State's Chronic Brain Injury Program. You can read Dr. Tedeschi’s feature by Ohio State News below.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Research explores why certain brain neurons are vulnerable to degeneration

Harry Fu, PhD recent publication featured in OSUMC News: “Wolframin is a novel regulator of tau pathology and neurodegeneration.” Dr. Fu’s research focuses on understanding which subtypes of neurons are vulnerable to the abnormal buildup of tau protein aggregates in the brain that occurs at early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The research also explores the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the selective neuronal vulnerability.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Dr. Yousef Hannawi is leading Ohio State’s efforts in joining researchers at more than 100 other hospitals across the globe

They will conduct a research study of bleeding in the brain, or intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). More than 40% of people with ICH die within a month, and only 20% can independently care for themselves after six months. There’s currently no treatment for ICH that’s scientifically proven to improve outcomes. This study is being done to determine if recombinant Factor VIIa (rFVIIa), a protein that our body makes to stop bleeding at the site of injury to a blood vessel, can slow bleeding in the brain and improve outcomes.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Cole Vonder Haar, PhD and Kris Martens, PhD find that "gambling rats" model altered decision-making post-TBI

By analyzing data from five different experiments involving “gambling rats,” Drs. Vonder Haar & Martens were able to better understand how traumatic brain injuries changes decision making. The study found that brain injury reduced sensitivity or understanding of the consequences of decisions. The findings are published online in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

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2021

Chronic Brain Injury

"CARE-4-TBI" Bolsters TBI Research with $16 Million in Federal Funding

"The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes has allocated $16 million toward a seven-year, multicenter research project led by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine that will compare inpatient rehabilitation treatments for traumatic brain injuries (TBI). More than $2.5 million has been awarded for the first year of the project, with the remainder expected to be awarded as the project progresses." Congrats to Jennifer Bogner, PhD and the rest of her team on this amazing accomplishment!

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Chronic Brain Injury

CBI Affiliates Represented on 6 'Accelerator' Awards from the President's Research Excellence Program!

"Nineteen teams have been awarded funding through the Accelerator Grant program. These grants of up to $50,000 are for small teams formed to pursue curiosity-driven, novel, high-risk and high-reward research." Congratulations to Drs. Jingzhen "Ginger" Yang, John Sheridan, Scott Hayes, Anne Kloos, Deborah Kegelmeyer, Olga "Niki" Kokiko-Cochran, Asimina Kiourti, Jinghua Li, and Xia Ning!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Summer 2021 Funding Winners Have Been Announced!

CBI provides seed funding for cross-college collaborations that push the boundaries of our knowledge and capabilities in brain injury research. We also offer equipment cost-share funding, travel awards, undergraduate summer fellowships, and other resources to our members. Our most recent awards were announced on July 9th, 2021 for Pilot Awards, our Resource Award, and our inaugural Action Potential Grant (APG)! Check out the winners by clicking the link below!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Making Headway Podcast Series - "SEE BI" with Olga 'Niki" Kokiko-Cochran, PhD

The Making Headway Podcast is a podcast made by two brain injury survivors, Mariah and Eryn. They have developed a new series titled “SEE BI” - which features various CBI researchers and their work in brain injury! Dr. Kokiko-Cochran kicked off the first episode in the series, titled “Sleep Disruption, TBI, and Long-Term Effects.” Listen and learn more by clicking the link below!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Andrew Sas, MD, PhD - Buckeye Neurotrauma Lecture (July 14, 2021)

Click the link below to view Dr. Sas's talk, titled "Neutrophil mediated axon regeneration."

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Chronic Brain Injury

Making Headway Podcast Series - "SEE BI" with Julianna Nemeth, PhD

In partnership with the Making Headway Podcast, a new series titled “SEE BI” interviews CBI researchers about their work and findings in the brain injury field. Julianna Nemeth, PhD, MA, continues the podcast series with “Domestic Violence and Brain Injuries – Helping DV Advocates Best Reach Survivors.” The episode is live on all major podcast platforms, or you can listen by clicking the link below!

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Chronic Brain Injury

Phillip Popovich, PhD - Buckeye Neurotrauma Lecture (April 2, 2021)

Click the link below to watch Dr. Popovich's talk, titled "Spinal Cord Injury Causes an Acquired Bone Marrow Failure Syndrome"

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Chronic Brain Injury

Congratulations to our 2021 Pilot Award winners!

Congratulations to our 2021 Pilot Award winners! These interdisciplinary teams will develop innovative brain injury research in human imaging, movement analysis, and infection risks.

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Chronic Brain Injury

Jonathan Godbout, PhD - Buckeye Neurotrauma Lecture (January 15, 2021)

Click the link below to view the recording of Dr. Godbout's talk, titled "Unique trauma associated microglia induced by diffuse brain injury promote chronic cortical inflammation, neuronal dysfunction, and cognitive decline"

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Chronic Brain Injury

Congratulations to our 2021 Poster Winners!

CBI Research Day is a flagship scientific event for presenting the best of brain injury research – and 2021 was no exception! Congrats to our poster winners, exhibiting excellence in the next generation of TBI researchers: Antonia Zouridakis of the Tedeschi Lab, Brigette Gonzalez Olmo of the Barrientos Lab, and Angela Filous of the Schwab Lab.

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2020

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

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

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

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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2019

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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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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2018

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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OUR UNDERGRADUATE FEATURES

Chronic Brain Injury

Gabrielle Moots & VPT Children

Gabrielle Moots (Psychology, ’17) has been no stranger to the importance that research can have in our daily lives. Gabrielle is currently a research assistant in the Center for Biobehavioral Health at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and her experiences in the lab have been crucial in directing her focus towards her passion for helping those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)....

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Chronic Brain Injury

Praneeth Madhu & Neurodegenerative Diseases

Praneeth Madhu (Neuroscience and Mathematics, ‘21) is an ambitious student from Dublin, Ohio, that has extensively studied the effects of the tau protein on neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the unfolded protein response (UPR) caused by collections of proteins have been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases...

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Chronic Brain Injury

Antonia Zouridakis & Injury to the CNS

Antonia Zouridakis (Neuroscience, ‘21) may have been born in Houston, Texas – but she has had no problem making the Tedeschi Laboratory feel like home. Antonia’s research efforts have focused on the structural changes seen in the brain and spinal cord after an ischemic stroke (arterial blockage) and the potential for axon regeneration. The brain and spinal cord are part of what is called the central nervous system (CNS), and injury to the CNS often results in irreparable damage. This inability to recover functioning to the injured areas is largely attributed to behavior of the axons of neurons...

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Chronic Brain Injury

Starr Jiang & the Aging Brain

Starr Jiang (Neuroscience, ’20) is the epitome of a hard worker. As a part of the Godbout Laboratory at Ohio State, Starr has helped study the mechanisms that can explain why the elderly have a harder time recovering from peripheral infections – and how this can lead to fall-related brain injuries. The lengthened recovery time of elderly patients often leads to longer hospital stays, where they average 1.5 falls per year and greatly increase their risk for TBI. In this project, the Godbout Laboratory aims to investigate the characteristics of the aged brain that may play a role in the breakdown of the brain’s ability to communicate effectively with the immune system...

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Chronic Brain Injury

Liam Stalker & Project Wander

Liam Stalker (Neuroscience '20) has been nothing short of purposeful in his final semester at The Ohio State University. At the 2020 Brain Health Hack, Liam and his team met the challenge to surpass the typical MWM and design a MWM for human subjects research. Many are familiar with the behavioral procedure known as the Morris water maze (MWM) – a task normally used with rodents to observe their ability to navigate an unknown space and track their movements. Liam and his team worked together to design “Project Wander,” a virtual reality simulation of the MWM using motion-tracking technology available in VR headsets like the Oculus Quest. Project Wander aimed to improve upon its predecessor, NavWell, by incorporating a physical motion component that allows its subjects to physically explore without disruptions or limitations...

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