Approved Research

Advanced imaging pipelines to further our understanding of how genotype, the brain, and personal history interact.

Lay summary

Genetics, socioeconomic status, education, neurobiology and medical history all interact in complex ways to confer sensitivity or resilience to central nervous system insult.  For example, even mild TBI, in individuals with high CNS frailty, may lead to increased risk for stroke, neurodegenerative disease, anxiety or depression later in life.  The traumatic brain injury (TBI) research group at the University of Virginia, in collaboration with Cohen Veterans Bioscience, proposes the use and analysis of the neuroimaging, genetic, cognitive testing, medical history, and other demographical data available within the UK Biobank repository to study the linkage between neurological and cardiovascular health to better understand the diverse outcomes (i.e. the sub-populations) represented in military veterans and other aging populations.  These data and resulting analyses will inform potential precision medicine approaches,  guide future research avenues, and further refine the development of open-source tools to conduct such research.