Traumatic Brain Injury Research Priorities: The Conemaugh International Brain Injury Symposium

Abstract

In 2005, an international symposium was convened with over 100 neuroscientists from 13 countries and major research centers to review current research in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and develop a consensus document on research issues and priorities. Four levels of TBI research were the focus of the discussion: basic science, acute care, post-acute neurorehabilitation, and improving quality of life (QOL). Each working group or committee was charged with reviewing current research, discussion and prioritizing future research directions, identifying critical issues that impede research in brain injury, and establishing a research agenda that will drive research over the next five years, leading to significantly improved outcomes and QOL for individuals suffering brain injuries. This symposium was organized at the request of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, to follow up on the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference on TBI as mandated by the TBI ACT of 1996. The goal was to review what progress had been made since the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Conference, and also to follow up on the 1990's Decade of the Brain Project. The major purpose of the symposium was to provide recommendations to the U.S. Congress on a priority basis for research, treatment, and training in TBI over the next five years.

Quality of Life after Brain Injury (QOLIBRI): Scale Development and Metric Properties

“…Further work will explore the sensitivity and responsiveness of the measure and further cross-cultural comparisons of scale structures and scores. The psychometric properties of the QOLIBRI suggest that it is a practical and 20 reliable instrument which can be considered for use in studies examining HRQoL after TBI in clinical as well as in research settings (Zitnay et al, 2008).…”

Post-Acute Brain Injury Urinary Signature: A New Resource for Molecular Diagnostics

“…21,26,27 Alternative diagnostics and theragnostics would preferentially reflect neuroplastic processes ongoing weeks to months after injury to target and optimize neurological and functional recovery. 23,28,29 Confronting all of the above, this study reports on proof of principle for a new diagnostic approach assessing small metabolic brain injury by-products released into patient urine in the early rehabilitative phase of recovery. Complexity of the urinary TBI metabolomic signature was assessed along with the capacity to classify subjects and stratify based on clinical metrics of injury and function.…”

“…22 However, therapeutic needs vary widely among brain injury patients, demanding individualized therapeutic strategies and assessments to provide maximal rehabilitative benefit. 20,23 Rehabilitation practitioners are challenged to quickly, yet precisely, characterize their patient's cognitive and behavioral performance to facilitate effective treatment planning and longterm recommendations. Patient readiness for acute rehabilitation is particularly difficult to assess with conventional neuropsychological testing that often does not capture the capacity to participate meaningfully in therapies.…”

Clinical study of quality of life of traumatic brain injury patients after decompressive craniectomy and related influencing factors

“…TBI as a "silent epidemic" and they believe that this "silent epidemic" is not widely known and its importance to public health is insufficiently recognized [5,6].…”