Brain-trauma study looks to war injuries for answers
Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan recently received over $775,000 to study why so many troops are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with brain injuries caused by roadside bombs.
Assistant Professor, Dr. Pamela VandeVord, is heading up the new research at Wayne State. VandeVord and her team simulate roadside bombs in their Detroit research facility with a $25,000 blast tube that looks like a 20-foot cannon, which simulates the effects caused by a roadside bomb, like those soldier see in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Wayne State researchers are trying to identify proteins that brain cells give off when they die. If VandeVord can identify the protein, then she could come up with a blood test. For example, if a soldier experiences an explosion, he could get a blood test to find out whether he has suffered a TBI. The researchers are also trying to identify a drug that could stop the death of cells in the brain.
You can read more on VandeVord’s research here.