Pediatric brain injuries are one of the most common neurologic conditions that affect the lives of children and their families. Brain injuries can be due to accidental causes (such as motor vehicle or sporting accidents) or due to a number of other reasons (including medical conditions). After a brain injury, children may have difficulties with many aspects of thinking and cognition (such as attention and learning), academic difficulties, motor difficulties, as well as other behavioral and emotional challenges.
The good news is that following a brain injury, there is often a period of rapid recovery where many of a child’s deficits may improve or completely resolve. The nature and extent of deficits vary due to a number of factors, including how severely the brain was injured, medical complications, and many factors unique to the child’s own development and family history. Understanding the changes in a child due to a brain injury and monitoring their recovery to provide appropriate and timely intervention, including academic and family supports, are very important.
We have a number of ongoing research programs that address the neurocognitive and psychosocial outcomes of children and adolescents with acquired brain injuries, and hope you find some of the research opportunities and resources helpful. The goal of these studies is to better understand the natural recovery and brain repair following a TBI so that we can improve recovery. The information from the research studies will help us to develop treatment programs to improve recovery.
Participants in these research protocols will be provided information (including results of brain imaging studies, clinical examinations, and cognitive test results) that may be useful in helping children and their families obtain services that will aid in their recovery.
We are a multidisciplinary team of experts in the fields of neuropsychology, psychology, neurology, and brain imaging with many years of experience working with children and their families with brain injuries. Our research projects are funded by grants by the National Institutes of Health.