2024.07.11 - Early Life Stress as a Risk Factor for Prolonged Recovery after Concussion (Live Webinar)

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Understanding the risk factors associated with prolonged recovery after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is an important clinical consideration. One potential risk factor is a history of chronic stress. The immune system is primed after chronic stress and may be a link to worsened outcomes after mTBI. In this Sbordone webinar, Coleen Atkins, Ph.D. will discuss how chronic stress in early development can lead to prolonged cognitive deficits.  

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss how mild traumatic brain injury is modeled in preclinical studies.
• Review the risk factors that influence outcomes after concussion.
• Describe how chronic stress primes the immune system to alter recovery after concussion.

Fees:

• Free for survivors/family caregivers.
• $50 for clinicians. Includes 1 ACBIS CEU.

Speaker Bio

Coleen M. Atkins, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and a Research Health Scientist at the Bruce Carter Miami VA Healthcare System. Dr. Atkins received her B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Oregon Health & Sciences University and the University of Miami.

The research objective of Dr. Atkins’s laboratory is to develop therapeutics to treat cognitive dysfunction after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Currently, Dr. Atkins is studying synaptic loss after TBI in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models as well as investigating how early life stress limits recovery after mild TBI. Dr. Atkins is also actively investigating novel drug treatments in clinical development to limit acute pathology after TBI and restore learning and memory ability. Dr. Atkins is committed to broadening the biomedical research community by serving as Interim Associate Dean of Graduate Education at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and founded the Miami Brain Fair as President of the Miami Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.