CONFERENCE AGENDA

Andreas Jeromin, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Atlantic Biomarkers

C. Edward Dixon, Ph.D., Professor of Neurological Surgery, Anesthesiology, Neurobiology & Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Neural injuries and diseases pose major global health challenges, necessitating rigorous testing of new therapies in large animal models for better clinical translation. The pig serves as an ideal model due to its human-like brain structure. In porcine models of traumatic brain injury and ischemic stroke, induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (iNSCs) and their extracellular vesicles (NSC EVs) demonstrated strong neuroprotective effects. MRI analyses showed reduced lesion volume, brain atrophy, and swelling, alongside preserved blood flow and white matter integrity, which correlated with improved behavioral and motor function. These findings highlight iNSCs and NSC EVs as promising multimodal therapies and underscore the value of clinically relevant MRI assessments in predicting functional recovery and enhancing translation to human trials.

Erin Elizabeth Kaiser, Ph.D. , Assistant Professor, Neuroscience, Regenerative Bioscience Center , University of Georgia

This talk will cover our team's single-cell transcriptomic analyses of murine traumatic brain injury that reveal profound cellular heterogeneity driven by injury severity, sex, temporal stage, and brain region. I will highlight how distinct cell populations activate divergent injury and repair pathways, while a subset of conserved molecular programs overlaps with those observed in human TBI datasets. I will focus on a few key cell types that seemed to have the most altered transcriptomic profiles post-injury. Collectively, these findings provide a framework for precision medicine approaches in TBI, emphasizing cell-type- and pathway-specific therapeutic targeting to improve translational relevance and clinical outcomes.

Ruchira Jha, MD, MSc, Division Chief, Neurocritical Care, Professor, Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Translational Neuroscience, Barrow Neurological Institute

The gut microbiome is part of the brain-gut axis and undergoes substantial dysbiosis after TBI. Until recently, it was not clear whether this was merely a reflection of ongoing brain pathology or whether it causally contributed to the evolution of TBI pathology. This talk will cover recent data from a rat model of TBI that suggests the gut microbiome influences outcomes from brain injury, including two devastating psychiatric symptoms: impulsivity and risky decision-making.

Cole Vonder Haar, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Barrow Neurological Institute

Kristen Dams-O'Connor, Ph.D., Vice Chair of Research, Director, Brain Injury Research Center , Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

In this presentation, Dr. Marklund will address key mechanisms underlying traumatic brain injury and sports-related concussion, including the pathophysiology of white matter injury, tau aggregation, and the inflammatory response and its potential link to neurodegeneration. Dr. Marklund will also discuss emerging cellular mechanisms that may drive tau and amyloid-beta aggregation following TBI and concussion. The data presented are drawn from advanced neuroimaging approaches (including PET and 7T MRI), biomarker analyses, neuropathological studies of human and experimental TBI brain tissue, and single-cell RNA sequencing.

Niklas Marklund, MD, Ph.D., Professor of Neurosurgery , Lund University

Predicting long-term patient outcomes facilitates shared decision-making and minimizes non-beneficial interventions. Too much care may be provided when the likelihood of positive outcomes is low; conversely, too little care may be provided when the likelihood of positive outcomes is high. We define the change in functional status from preinjury to 6-months post injury as the Delta Function. We hypothesize that a model can be constructed from baseline factors early in the course of the hospitalization for TBI to predict Delta Function – and therefore the quality of life at 6-months post injury. We could predict when further intensive therapy is not going to be the patient’s best interest. A novel composite score (Delta Function) is needed to characterize the postinjury experience of older adults based on changes from their preinjury baseline.

Rachel Morris, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Surgery, Trauma & Critical Care; Associate Director of Research, Medical College of Wisconsin

This presentation explores the concept of a “shadow network”—distributed brain systems that may remain altered or compensatory long after clinical recovery appears complete. The talk will also highlight emerging work on TBI-related neurodegeneration (TReND), including its relationship to repetitive concussion and conditions such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Douglas Smith, MD, MSCE, The Robert A. Groff Professor of Teaching & Research in Neurosurgery, Director, Center for Brain Injury and Repair, University of Pennsylvania/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Kristen Dams-O'Connor, Ph.D., Vice Chair of Research, Director, Brain Injury Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

This session will highlight how advanced neuroimaging approaches are being translated from academic discovery into clinical application and industry development. Speakers from academia and industry will discuss emerging imaging technologies, integration with blood-based biomarkers, and their role in improving diagnosis, patient stratification, and outcome assessment in traumatic brain injury. The panel will also explore collaborative frameworks that accelerate translation and support regulatory, therapeutic, and clinical decision-making.

W. Frank Peacock, MD, FACEP, FACC, FESC, Professor, Vice Chair for Research, Baylor College of Medicine

John Leddy, MD, MSCE, Clinical Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, University of Buffalo

Dr. Cheever will discuss the recent findings of an increased risk of both having suffered a previous mTBI and the incidence rate at which mTBI are suffered among military service members and veterans with a history of contact sport participation. In particular he will discuss those at the highest risk of suffering multiple mtbi across the lifespan while highlighting several potential modifiable and nonmodifiable factors that may influence the observed relationship between contact sport history and increased mTBI risk.

Kelly Cheever, Ph.D., MSCE, Associate Professor, Kinesiology Department, University of Texas at San Antonio

In this talk, Dr. Wiebe will address the public health and policy importance of investigating the epidemiology of CTE, which is particularly challenging to study given it can be diagnosed only postmortem; and will describe a novel interdisciplinary approach to do so using a population-based case-control study, with attention to avoiding selection bias and accounting for potential confounders.

Douglas Wiebe, Ph.D., Director, U-M Injury Prevention Center, Co-Director | Outreach, U-M Concussion Center, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan

The talk will present the central and peripheral physiological factors that are believed to cause the common phenomenon of exercise intolerance after concussion.

John Leddy, MD, MSCE, Clinical Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, University of Buffalo

Kevin Wang, Ph.D., Executive Director of Translational and Multi-Omic Medicine, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME)