Professor at Indiana University Bloomington studying brain trauma thanks to two grants

Kei Kawata, an associate professor in the School of Public Health at Indiana University Bloomington, is working on two grant-funded projects that will attempt to help the world better understand chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which is a side effect of repeated head impacts often suffered by athletes, and how to prevent it.

According to an article on Indiana University Bloomington’s website, David Allison, who serves as the dean and Distinguished Professor in the School of Public Health Bloomington, was quoted as saying, “The research Dr. Kawata and other School of Public Health-Bloomington faculty are conducting is novel and remarkably important. This work is not only scientifically creative, but it is addressing an imperative problem and protecting the health and wellbeing of our future: children and those who serve our country in our military. The tangible impact of this work will be felt widely across the country and the world.”

A $3 million National Institutes of Health grant will facilitate the first of Kawata’s studies on the subject. During the study, Kawata and other researchers from Indiana University will see volunteer participants perform headers with soccer balls. The participants will be subject to pretreatment with omega-3 fatty acids in order to see if they have any effect on the brain’s resilience in healing from these types of traumas. 

Kawata said of this upcoming trial, “Subconcussive head impacts are often inherent to athletic drills, like soccer headings and tackles in contact sports. There are limits to how much policy and rule changes can regulate these impacts. Establishing prophylactic measures against subconcussive injury is urgently needed. Omega-3 fatty acids may have the potential to be a breakthrough in clinical care for contact sports athletes.”

The trial will involve performing neurological assessments on the participants to gauge the effectiveness of the omega-3 fatty acids. The assessments include advanced neuroimaging and blood biomarkers.

Timothy Mickleborough is a professor of exercise physiology and is acting as co-lead on the project. He said, “Omega-3 fatty acid dietary supplements are widely available, inexpensive and well tolerated at any age. Since both DHA and EPA are important for brain function, they may provide neuroprotection against subconcussive head impacts.”

In the other grant-funded project Kawata will be participating in, Dr. Jeffrey Bazarian of the University of Rochester is the lead investigator. The U.S. Department of Defense is giving $6 million to the project, which includes investigators from several different institutions, to study brain resiliency after traumatic head injuries suffered by members of the military, through explosions, artillery fire, accidents, and other traumas. 

Kawata will be investigating a clinical trial using a similar method to his other research project. He will study participants who perform headers using a soccer ball at different impact intervals to test whether the time between impacts has an effect on brain resilience. 

Of the trial, Kawata said, “This widely scalable concept of manipulating head impact intervals will provide tremendous insights into the prevention, monitoring and treatment of subconcussive brain injury in service members, contact-sport athletes and beyond.”

For more information about Indiana University Bloomington, visit the school’s website.