About this Research Topic

Background

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major health problem in the US and around the world, with the risk of prolonged health problems and substantial socioeconomic consequences. Despite decades of preclinical TBI research and demonstration of successful preclinical studies, the field is still plagued by poor clinical translation. Injury biomechanics plays a critical role in better understanding TBI, from development of biofidelic experimental models, computer simulations, and development of structural and functional tolerances. Heterogeneity in terms of both biomechanics and the response to TBI, is generally not built into preclinical research and there is an urgent need for more multi-modal approaches and multidisciplinary efforts to improving TBI outcomes. Clinical practice recommendations have been developed, yet currently they do not provide guidance in the context of gender differences, comorbidities, and health disparities. Intentional multidisciplinary efforts that focus on the arc from biomechanical modeling and analyses to clinical interpretation ultimately help patients due to more rigorous experimental models and robust intervention studies.

The aim of the current Research Topic is to cover promising, recent, and innovative research trends in bidirectional and multidisciplinary approaches to study and improve TBI outcomes across severities, with a focus on acute trauma time periods. Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to: experimental research, simulation and prediction models, novel technological advances to diagnostics, monitoring and clinical management, and bidirectional translation between preclinical studies and clinical settings/practice.

Papers on, but not limited to, the following topics are welcome:

• Multimodal/multidisciplinary approaches to improving TBI prevention, diagnostics, monitoring, and acute/subacute care
• Comorbidities and risk factors for the heterogeneous response to TBI, including TBI history and biomechanical variability, as well as underlying genetic, metabolic, cardiovascular, and infectious (e.g., COVID 19) conditions and diseases
• Bidirectional approaches to experimental modeling and determination of risk factors, such that preclinical studies inform clinical translation while clinical research guides experimental and biomechanical priorities
• Engineering and technological solutions, including biomechanical analyses, artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches, applied to acute l TBI
• Redefining TBI as a matrixed disease complex that depends on injury biomechanics, underlying health and risk factors, as well as temporally changing secondary injury mechanisms
• Preclinical models of TBI, including severe models and modeling of clinical phenomena
• TBI biomechanics, including in situ sensors, computer modeling, and determination of tissue tolerances, with a focus on prevention
• Novel diagnostics and assessments for TBI with high translational potential

Dr. Michelle LaPlaca stands as Scientific Adviser for Lena Biosciences Inc. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.

Keywords: Traumatic Brain Injury, Injury Biomechanics, Clinical Decision Tools, Concussion, Severe Brain Injury, Prediction Models, Diagnostics, Acute Brain Injury, Risk Factors, Clinical Translation, Machine Learning

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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