Brain and spinal cord injury caused by traumatic accident is the leading killer and cause of disability in children and young adults. In this country alone, one head injury occurs every 15 seconds and one death and one permanent disability from traumatic brain injury every five minutes. Economic costs exceed $30 billion annually. The neurotrauma research group focuses on the anatomical, biochemical, molecular and behavioral aspects of traumatic injury of the nervous system, with the ultimate goal of improved therapies. A number of broad and complex questions are addressed, including:

• What physical phenomena occur to cause the death of brain cells following traumatic injury?
• Why do some neurons survive?
• How does the injured brain recover?
• Does the nervous system contain built-in protection mechanisms, and can these be clinically utilized?

Recent studies by the neurotrauma research group have found that disturbances in the level of calcium inside cells may affect biochemical occurrences after head injury, and changes in activities of different enzymes - including calcium-dependent enzymes - can contribute to neural injury. Additionally, traumatic brain injury can initiate different forms of cell death, including necrosis and programmed cell death (apoptosis), and produce significant molecular changes including widespread DNA damage.

Neurotrauma researchers are divided into three main areas of study. One group studies damage in neurons both inside the human body and in the laboratory. A second group is developing gene therapy techniques to treat traumatic brain injury. A third group studies brain injuries in animals to assess potential therapies in humans.

The Vivian L. Smith Foundation for Neurologic Research provides continuing support for neurotrauma research.