Alex Muhindo, MBChB, FCS
Nominated From: Indiana University
Research Site: Global Health Uganda
Research Area:Neurotrauma, Early childhood development
Primary Mentors: Dr. Dibyadyuti Datta, Dr. Paul Bangirana
Research Project
Evaluating point-of-care brain injury biomarkers and blood chemistries in children with traumatic brain injury in Uganda
Neurocognitive impairment (NCI) is a common complication after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Inchildren ages 5–15 years, six of the top 15 causes of mortality and disability are injury-related,and 95% of these occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The burden of TBI in LMICs is not fully known but is estimated at three times more than in high-income countries.Thus, there is a global need for reliable, noninvasive prognostic tools to predict future NCI riskas early as possible after TBI. Biomarkers of brain injury—proteins expressed in the brain parenchyma (by neurons and astrocytes)—can be useful prognostic tools in brain injury.However, limited research has been conducted for pediatric TBI in an LMIC setting to understand brain injury in children at risk of NCI after TBI. To address this gap in knowledge,our research group is conducting a study titled Blood-Biomarkers and Risk Factors of Acute Brain Injury associated with Neuro disability in Ugandan Children (BRAIN-Child) to identify blood-based brain injury biomarkers implicated in NCI after CM for their roles in NCI after TBI in Uganda. While this research is critical, a limitation of the proposed research is that it relies on lab-based biomarker assessment using a highly sensitive single-molecule detection tool that is currently unavailable in Uganda and may remain out of reach due to the cost and sensitive nature of the instrument.
Research Significance
Prediction of long-term outcome from head injury.
Publications
Mentors
