Concussions and kids: Project co-led by UCLA gets $10 million grant from NIH

A research project co-led by theUCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Programaimed at improving the assessment and treatment of concussions in school-aged children has been awarded $10 million by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.The grant to the Four Corners Youth Consortium, agroup of academic medical centers studying pediatric concussions, will supportConcussion Assessment, Research and Education for Kids, or CARE4Kids, a multisite study that will enroll more than 1,300 children and teens nationwide, including an estimated 240 in Southern California.CARE4Kids researchers will use advanced brain imaging and blood tests to explore biological markers — including those related to changes in blood pressure, heart rate and pupil reactivity — that could predict which youngsters will develop persistent symptoms after a concussion.Nearly one-third of the 3 million Americans diagnosed annually with concussions have symptoms that persist for three months after their injury, including chronic migraines, learning and memory problems, exercise intolerance, sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression.And the risk of delayed recovery is even higher for adolescents, according to UCLA ’sDr. Christopher Giza, co-lead of the CARE4Kids project and director of the BrainSPORT Program.“We are excited to launch this innovative investigation into concussions, which remain a serious public health concern for our nation’s youth and t...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news