Project Overview

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in children and young adults in Canada. Despite huge developments in basic neuroscience, no new therapies or diagnostic tests have been introduced in clinical care over the past 30 years. In the acute setting, neither clinicians nor researchers are able to predict long term outcome, which makes it difficult to tailor care, rehabilitation interventions or support services. Canadian scientists have previously been working separately, developing biobanks for studies of molecular biomarkers and studying mechanisms in laboratory models of TBI. The discovery and validation of molecular biomarker, in human, holds promise for diagnosis, outcome prediction and for monitoring response to new drugs or molecular therapies, rehabilitation and targeted psychotherapy. To study these promising biomarkers, an integrated translational biology approach is needed. The funding for this project will help link current and planned biobanks for traumatic brain injury, to a central state-of-the art neuroscience database at the Ontario Brain Institute. It will permit more rapid pilot studies with emerging laboratory technologies and novel approaches and will enable our scientists to be more competitive when applying for peer-reviewed funding. It will also position Canadian scientists to lead ground-breaking neuroscience research as part of the International Initiative for Traumatic Brain Injury Research. This Platform Support Grant provides an essential step to help Canadian scientists lead a paradigm shift in the care of these patients with traumatic brain injury.

Principal Investigator

Jamie Hutchison , The Hospital For Sick Children

Team Members

Andrew Baker, St. Michael’s Hospital

Karen Barlow, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute

David Clarke, Capital District Health Authority

Michael Esser, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute

Robin Green, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute

Anne-Marie Guerguerian, The Hospital For Sick Children

Jacques Lacroix, Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre

Alain Ptito, McGill University

Keith Walley, James Hogg Research Institute

Grant Iverson, University of British Columbia

Anthony G. Phillips, University of British Columbia

Elizabeth Theriault, University of British Columbia

Cheryl Wellington, University of British Columbia

Suzanne Vercauteren, BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH)

Ash Singhal, BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre

Peter Skippen, BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH)

Elaine Gilfoyle, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute

Ari Joffe, University of Alberta

David Zygun, University of Alberta

Clare Gallagher, University of Calgary

Thomas Sawyer, University of Calgary

Brent Winston, University of Calgary

Greg Hansen, Manitoba Children’s Hospital

Murray Kesselman, Manitoba Children’s Hospital

Peter Dirks, The Hospital For Sick Children

Cynthia Hawkins, The Hospital For Sick Children

Angela Colantonio, University of Toronto

Karen Choong, McMaster University

Alison Fox-Robichaud, McMaster University

Patricia Liaw, McMaster University

Jane Batt, St. Michaels Hospital

Shiva Amiri, Ontario Brain Institute (OBI)

Donald Stuss, Ontario Brain Institute (OBI)

Douglas Fraser, Children’s Health Research Institute

Corinne Kagan, Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (ONF)

Michelle Keightley, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

Martin Osmond, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)

Roger Zemek, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)

Charles H Tator, Krembil Research Institute

Catherine Farrell, Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre

Ronald Gottesman, Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH)

Paul Hébert, Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Bonnie Swaine, Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Alexis Turgeon, Université Laval

Lynne Fenerty, Dalhousie University

Samuel Weiss, University of Calgary

Partners and Donors

Providence Health Care Society

Child. & Women's Health Centre of British Columbia

University of Calgary

Hospital for Sick Children

Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation

CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation

Nova Scotia Health Authority

Genome BC

University of British Columbia

Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health