Selection and Admissions Policy

We utilize a three-part selection process.



Step 1: The Program Administrator reviews applications for completeness and eligibility.

Step 2: Eligible applications move to the screening committee which reviews the applications and identifies candidates for interview.

Therapeutic target identification through analysis of microglial driven traumatic brain injury pathogenic mechanisms.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity among both military personnel and the civilian population and is the leading cause of death and disability in the under-45 age group in industrialized countries. Among the soldiers who survive conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, TBI accounts for a larger proportion of their casualties than in any other war in recent US history. Furthermore, among patients evaluated at the Walter Reed Hospital, closed head injuries significantly outnumber other penetrating injuries, and although blast injuries have gained much attention in recent years, 84% of TBIs occur in a non-deployed setting involving vehicle crashes, falls, sports and military training activities (Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center statistics).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 5.3 million Americans are living with disabilities resulting from TBI. In particular repetitive mild TBI is now recognized to be a major health concern for both civilian and military populations. These repetitive injuries may result in dementia-like symptoms where the patient may experience memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression. For many years TBI has been known to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative conditions, but the precise nature of how TBI leads to or precipitates AD is not understood. Current treatments for TBI focus on the primary consequences of the injury, such as brain swelling, as the chronic biological consequences of TBI are still mostly unknown. There are very few current clinical trials in the US or even worldwide which are specifically addressing mTBI, and typically the drugs under investigation were developed for other conditions and have shown very little success thus far, presumably due to the lack of knowledge of the molecular mechanisms which constitute the brains’ secondary response to TBI. These numerous and complex mechanisms may persist for months and even years after the event, and naturally are significant contributors to the patient’s outcome.

The goal of this proposal is to validate these lipid changes as targets for TBI therapeutics. This work will, in two years, provide critical information on potential therapeutic targets to mitigate the chronic neurodegenerative consequences of TBI, and will provide preliminary data on treatments which may be effective in that regard. This will provide a laboratory based platform for future studies to further evaluate these targets and compounds, with experiments designed to translate the basic science into clinical practice- namely studies of how different doses or administration paradigms influence the outcome after TBI; when the optimum treatment window occurs; how the compounds are distributed and metabolized in the body. This project will thus be of considerable significance in identifying novel approaches and effective treatments for TBI and will contribute to the much needed increase in flow of viable, TBI focused treatments into human clinical trials.