The Acute Studies Core was established to address the earliest events that inform diagnosis and treatment of TBI. The Acute Studies Core will further develop a consortium of local sites for expansion of studies with acute patients and for recruitment of those patients into subsequent CNRM studies.

Studies of acute TBI patients are critical to perform in local civilian sites to exploit advanced technologies and perform interventional studies that would not be possible in theater. The earliest time points after injury are often the most informative for assessments, such as imaging and biomarkers, and the most effective for interventions, such as neuroprotective agents. Our complementary studies in later stage patients will then take advantage of this early stage information in both the civilian and military populations at NIH (link is external) and WRNMMC (link is external), respectively. These later stage civilian studies will include re-contact of patients from the acute studies or enrollment of a given patient into a study that starts at a local hospital and continues at the NIH.