Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are a leading cause of death and disability in children and adolescents in the U.S. In fact, infants up to age 4 and teens between the ages of 15 and 19 are at greatest risk for a brain injury, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While advances in pediatric critical care in the past two decades have led to greatly improved survival rates in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) nationally, neurological dysfunction is still a common result of critical illness, particularly after TBI.
That’s what makes Elizabeth Newell’s research on TBI so important.
Newell (05MD, 08R), an assistant professor of pediatrics–critical care in the University of Iowa Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, is working to improve outcomes following TBI in her clinical care practice, which she couples with her research on how immune cells in the brain respond to a TBI and impact long-term recovery.
Although neuroimmune activation is crucial to recovery after TBI, a dysregulated immune response can result in secondary brain injury. One area of Newell’s research focuses on how neuroinflammation contributes to these long-term deficits after a TBI, which can continue for months or years following the immediate impact.
“Those are the pathways where there’s opportunity to intervene because there’s a prolonged therapeutic window,” Newell says. “That’s our focus.”
A supportive environment for a physician scientist
The inspiration for Newell’s line of research began during her fellowship training in the PICU at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where she was mentored by leaders in the fields of brain trauma and resuscitation.
“That was when I cemented my plans to do brain injury research and tie in my initial interest in studying the immune system and inflammation,” she says, adding that neurological disease is the leading cause for care in the PICU. “There’s been great advancement in our field, but I think the brain and neurological function is still an area that’s in need of further advancement. The brain is key to who we are and what we do.”
Newell, who earned her MD from the Carver College of Medicine and completed her pediatrics residency training at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, became a faculty member in 2012 after her fellowship training in Pittsburgh.
Traumatic brain injury research
The Newell Lab studies how neuroinflammation contributes to TBI so that novel targeted therapies may be developed.
