(This project is part of a five-year grant awarded to The Center for Injury Research and Control (CIRCL) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

Funding Agency:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Grant No. R49/CCR310285)

Total Project Period:

9/1/03 - 8/31/08

Total Project Award:

$4,498,178 (total CIRCL grant award amount)

Principal Investigator:

Amy Wagner, MD (Department of Physical Medicine &
Rehabilitation)

Co-Investigators:

Ross Zafonte, DO (Department of Psychiatry); Sue Beers, PhD
(Department of Psychiatry); Hulya Bair, MD; Anthony Fabio, PhD; Sarah Berga, MD (Emory University

Project Summary:

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an epidemic in the United States, and over five million people live with disabilities associated with their injury. Approximately 25‰ of the population with TBI is female, and clinical research studies indicate that women may have worse outcomes compared to men with similar injuries. However, bench research studies indicate that ovarian hormones are “neuroprotective” and seem to reduce a variety of the adverse biochemical events associated with acute TBI.

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the disparity between “acute neuroprotection” for females and increased risk for poor outcomes by studying a clinical population with severe TBI and determining how sex hormone levels affect clinical markers of injury as well as functional outcomes. This information will shed new light on possible gender differences in the evolution of TBI and in how men and women recover.

This work will also be valuable for investigators in order to appropriately incorporate gender into their research design when testing interventions that reduce the effects of injury and promote recovery after TBI.