BIAA Awards 7 Grants through the Brain Injury Research Fund

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) awarded seven grants through the Brain Injury Research Fund for 2026, awarding $115,000 to seven applicants researching brain injury.

Now in its seventh year, the Brain Injury Research Fund was established with the goal of finding cures for chronic brain injury. The program is grounded in the understanding that for some people, brain injury evolves into a chronic health condition that can cause or accelerate multiple diseases.

“As BIAA enters its seventh year of providing grants to highly talented researchers, I continue to be impressed with the quality of submissions we receive,” said John D. Corrigan, PhD, National Research Director for BIAA. “This program has been a launching pad for young researchers as well as established ones who are taking a new direction. We are very pleased to be supporting such a strong group once again this year.”

This year’s recipients, listed below, include three Dissertation Grants and four Seed Grants. To date, BIAA has awarded nearly $500,000 in grants through the Brain Injury Research Fund.

BIAA 2026 Research Grant Recipients

“Multimodal Approach to Exploring ADRD Markers following Remote Head Injury”
Dissertation Grant of $5,000
Grantee: Erica Howard, The Ohio State University
Mentor: Jasmeet Hayes, Ph.D.

This dissertation study investigates how remote head injury contributes to chronic brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease. It focuses on two key mechanisms: loss of myelin, which disrupts brain communications, and abnormal accumulation of proteins, including amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau. The study will use a novel neuroimaging method to measure myelin content at the brain’s surface in adults aged 40 years and older, alongside blood biomarkers and cognitive testing. By linking imaging, biomarkers, and cognition, the study aims to clarify how head injuries may accelerate neurodegeneration.

“Opioid Exacerbation of TBI-induced Neuroinflammation and Pain: Role of the Kynurenine Pathway”
Dissertation Grant of $5,000
Grantee: Itzick Nahmoud, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Mentor: Alana Conti, Ph.D.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects millions each year, with long-term sequelae including chronic pain and depression. Mechanisms linking TBI, pain, and depression are unclear; however, TBI induces inflammation, common to both pain and depression. Paradoxically, inflammation may be augmented by first-line analgesics like opioids. Here, I will use a preclinical TBI model and positron emission tomography imaging to study how TBI with/without opioid administration alters the kynurenine pathway, an understudied neuroimmune signaling pathway, with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets.

“Multimodal Investigation of the Vascular Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury”
Dissertation Grant of $5,000
Grantee: Enna Selmanovic, Ichan School of Medicine
Mentor: Kristen Dams O’Connor, Ph.D.

Head injuries can cause lasting damage to the brain’s blood vessels, yet this area remains underexplored. This project will investigate how chronic vascular changes contribute to brain decline after trauma and repeated head impacts. By combining advanced imaging with post-mortem brain analysis in a well-characterized group, we aim to clarify how vascular health influences long-term brain disease and cognitive impairment following injury.

“The Role of Age at Traumatic Brain Injury in the Development of Neurodegenerative Disease”
Young Investigator Seed Grant of $25,000
Grantee: Lin Chung, University of Washington
Mentor: Amber Nolan, Ph.D., M.D.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for developing neurodegenerative disease, but little is known about how the age at injury, especially childhood age, contributes to the risk. This project will study human brain tissue to understand how early-life TBIs influence long-term brain health. We will compare inflammation and abnormal protein buildup in brains from people injured at different ages and link these findings to cognitive and behavioral changes. Learning how early injuries shape brain disease may reveal ways to reduce these lifelong neurological effects and improve outcomes.

“Linking Disrupted Sleep Architecture To Post-Concussive Symptom Persistence in Adolescents”
Young Investigator Seed Grant of $25,000
Grantee: Catherine Donahue, Ph.D., University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Children’s Hospital Colorado
Mentor: David Howell, Ph.D.

Concussion, a mild traumatic brain injury, often disrupts sleep, with up to 51% of adolescents reporting disturbances in the first week post-injury. These problems are linked to prolonged recovery, yet most studies focus only on total sleep time. Sleep architecture, particularly stage-specific changes, may better explain persistent symptoms. This project, examines how post-concussion disruptions in sleep staging influence time to symptom resolution. Identifying how stage-specific disruptions prolong recovery may inform individualized, sleep-focused interventions to improve adolescent outcomes.

“Sympathetic Activation and Inflammation after TBI: Neuroimmune Mechanisms Causing CVD and Mortality”
Young Investigator Seed Grant of $25,000
Grantee: Benjamin Young, Ph.D. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Mentor: Shanti Pinto, M.D.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with almost a decade shorter life expectancy, and patients are 2-3 times more likely to develop and die from cardiovascular disease (CVD). Rodent studies suggest that autonomic dysfunction, particularly sympathetic nervous system (SNS) overactivity, and inflammation are major causes of CVD after TBI. This project aims to characterize these pathways and the extent that the SNS is responsible for inflammation after TBI in humans.

“Pre-Pubertal Traumatic Brain Injury Disrupts Chronic Endocrine Signaling and Sexual Maturation”
Brain Injury Scholar Seed Grant of $25,000
Grantee: Rachel Rowe, Ph.D., University of Colorado Boulder

Pediatric TBI disrupts the hormonal system that controls puberty and reproductive health. Damage to the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis after TBI may delay or alter puberty, reduce hormones, and impair fertility. Yet the long-term impacts of childhood TBI on hormone production, gonadal structure, sexual maturation, and reproductive success remain poorly understood. We will use a juvenile rat TBI model to track sex hormones, gonadal changes, reproductive cycling, puberty, mating behavior, and fertility outcomes, revealing how childhood TBI shapes reproductive health across the lifespan.