Every Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model System cycle, each funded center proposes a multi-center research project to further our understanding of TBI outcomes and treatments. In the current cycle, Moss is enthusiastic to collaborate with our Model Systems colleagues on three exciting projects.

Mt. Sinai is leading a study designed to characterize the impact of early life adversity and neighborhood environment on outcomes after TBI. MRRI Institute Scientist Umesh Venkatesan, PhD, who brings expertise in studying adverse childhood experiences in persons living with TBI, will be leading the research activities related to this project at Moss. “TBI is a life-changing event, but still only one event in an individual’s life. We’re increasingly recognizing that people’s experiences before their brain injury, even in as early as childhood, may have implications for their recovery and health after brain injury. This ‘life course approach’ to studying brain injury is exemplified by the Mt. Sinai-led project,” remarked Dr. Venkatesan.

Moss is also participating in a study led by TIRR Memorial Hermann that will examine peoples’ health perceptions and beliefs with the goal of developing multidimensional profiles that can be used to personalize patient-provider communication. MRRI Associate Director Amanda Rabinowitz, PhD, Project Director of the Moss TBI Model System will be overseeing Moss’s involvement in this project. “As a field we have given too little attention to how individuals’ beliefs, cultural values, and resources influence their experiences in rehabilitative care and likelihood of deriving benefits and maximizing recovery. This collaborative study will take an important step towards characterizing health perception profiles with the goal of developing approaches to deliver more culturally competent care,” explained Dr. Rabinowitz.

Lastly, MRRI Scientist Emeritus and Former Director John Whyte, MD, PhD, is participating in an Ohio State University led module study to examine the impact of participation in state-provided programs on outcomes after TBI. This study builds on prior research from the TBI Model Systems demonstrating that merely living in a state that provided more state-level resources for persons with TBI had a small, but significant, impact on patient outcomes. “This new study will allow us to examine the impact of state-provided programs across multiple states and to see whether actual use of these programs by individuals with TBI led to better outcomes,” noted Dr. Whyte.

Moss has a strong track record of productive collaborations with the other Model Systems centers, and we look forward to further collaborations in the 2022-2027 cycle!

This article was adapted from an article originally published in The Moss Traumatic Brain Injury Model System’s Spring 2023 Edition of Brain E-News.