Congratulations to Shan Modi, one of our 2014 Summer Students, for his first place poster at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Medical Student Summer Research Program Symposium! Shan spent 2 months at HIPRC under the mentorship of Dr. Vijay Krishnamoorthy, MD (T-32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Anesthesiology) and HIPRC Director, Dr. Monica Vavilala, MD (Professor of Pediatrics and Anesthesiology).
Out of approximately 100 posters that were presented by other medical students who participated in research this summer, Shan’s poster on cardiac dysfunction in adult, brain-dead heart donors and the use of serial echocardiography for adult, brain-dead patients to improve donor harvest rates won first place.
“Upon brain death, one echo to analyze cardiac function is not enough, as some hearts undergo reversible cardiac dysfunction at the point of brain death. If you wait one to two days and perform multiple echoes, you can see that this cardiac dysfunction can reverse, leading to usable hearts for cardiac donation.” – Shan Modi
Hydroplane racing legend Chip Hanauer, “The Boat Guy,” is in a new public service campaign called “Gear Up.” The Boat Guy is teaming up with the Seattle Mariners to help promote the “Gear Up” campaign. Hanauer was at the Seattle Mariners’ day game on July 23, 2014 at Safeco Field to throw out the first pitch and promote the campaign. The “Gear Up” campaign officially launched on July 18, 2014 at TheBoatGuy.com.
“Gear Up” uses the analogy of wearing proper sports equipment with wearing a life jacket to prevent accidental drownings in Washington State. Drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury or death for youth’s age 1-17 in Washington. Historically, 75% of boating fatalities can be prevented by wearing a life jacket.
The “Gear Up” campaign continues throughout the summer with a multi-media campaign across Washington State. In addition, TheBoatGuy.com will promote “Gear Up” during The Boat Guy episodes. The Boat Guy website is an ideal tool to promote year-round water safety and will also feature a ”Gear Up Pledge” page where fans can pledge their promise to “Gear Up” and wear a life jacket.
Hanauer is famous for a fearless racing career and jaw-dropping hydroplane crashes. As “The Boat Guy,” his charm and wit have further endeared him to people across the Pacific Northwest, transforming his celebrity into the face of boating in the region. Many boating tragedies can be avoided by simply wearing the right safety gear, all of the time. Always wearing life jackets while playing, swimming, or boating in lakes, rivers, and the ocean can keep you safe on the water.
Help us congratulate HIPRC Core Member Hilaire Thompson, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, CNRN, FAAN (Associate Professor of Nursing) on her talk at the 2014 National Neurotrauma Society Symposium. Dr. Thompson’s 30-minute talk on “Aging, TBI, and Inflammation: A Clinical Perspective,” was part of a 90-minute panel on Inflammation, Aging, and Cognition, where she presented ongoing work with mentor Dr. Fred Rivara, MD, MPH (Professor of Pediatrics, Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology) and collaborator Nancy Temkin, PhD, MS (Professor of Neurological Surgery and Biostatistics) from her current R01 study as well as data from her prior KL2.
Older adults experience TBI at disproportionately higher rates, and their outcomes following injury are worse than younger patients with similar or milder injuries. To date, we have limited knowledge about differences in the response to TBI that results from aging, and how older age may affect pathology and recovery following TBI.
Following TBI, both local and systemic immune responses occur. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis following TBI results in immunodepression, the extent and length of altered cell-mediated immunity (Th1) is associated with poorer outcomes. Inflammation is one of the primary immune responses of the brain to TBI and increases proinflammatory have been reported following TBI and may be causally related to sequelae of injury.
Aging itself has been associated with a proinflammatory state. This may indicate a “homeostatic shift” in the aged brain denoted by increased reactivity to stress, resulting in altered neuroinflammatory and immune responses.
Their group is testing a model of impairment and disability following mild TBI in older adults that is associated with underlying aging-related immune system alterations coupled with that resulting from the brain injury itself. If their hypothesis is correct, that an altered immune response plays a role in the poorer outcome experienced by older adults following mild TBI, then by treating, their outcome could potentially be improved through the use of immune modulating therapies.
Please help us congratulate the following people for presenting posters at the 2014 National Neurotrauma Society Symposium in San Francisco June 29-July 2.
| Presenter | Poster |
| Sarah Brolliar (MPH student, Health Services) | Factors Associated with Clinician Adherence to Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Guidelines: A Qualitative Study |
| Dr. Nithya Kannan, MD (Research Coordinator for Anesthesiology) | Acute Care Clinical Indicators Associated with Discharge Outcomes in Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Hypotension Patterns and Vasopressor Choice after Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Across Five Pediatric Trauma Centers |
| Dr. Vijay Krishnamoorthy, MD (T-32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Anesthesiology) | The Indo-US Collaborative Head Injury and Adherence to Guidelines (CHIRAG) Project: Outcomes and Feasibility |
| Brianna Mills*, MA (PhD student, Epidemiology) | Facility-level Characteristics and Pediatric In-hospital Mortality Following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury |
| Megan Moore, PhD, MSW (Assistant Professor of Social Work) | Acute Care after Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Qualitative Study of the Family Perspective |
* Recipient of a $500 meritorious travel grant
Dr. Monica S. Vavilala, MD (Professor of Pediatrics and Anesthesiology) has been invited to serve as a member of the Surgery, Anesthesia, and Trauma Study Section at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s Center for Scientific Review for the term beginning July 01, 2014 and ending June 30, 2020. Members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors. Membership represents a unique opportunity to contribute to the national biomedical research effort. Study sections review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations on these applications to the appropriate NIH national advisory council or board, and survey the status of research in their fields of science. These functions are of great value to medical and allied research in this country.