Aging and brain injury after cardiac arrest: how age changes brain response
Official title: Aging-associated changes in the brain's response after a cardiac arrest
Funded at University of Colorado Denver · NIH-11393031 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Doctors are studying how aging affects the brain after a cardiac arrest and what this could mean for preventing or treating brain injury.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Career grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Colorado Denver NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Aurora, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | August 15, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $224,424 |
| NIH project number | 5K08NS135129-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11393031 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are older adults or animal-model studies modeling aging to understand brain injury after cardiac arrest; later, patient trials could explore age-specific interventions.
✕Less likely to help
This specific grant focuses on basic mechanisms in mouse models; direct benefits to individual patients would depend on future translational work.
What this research studies
This mentored career development grant supports a physician-scientist as they transition to independence by studying the molecular pathways that cause brain injury after cardiac arrest. The research focuses on neuronal cell death, brain inflammation, synaptic function, and cognition in mouse models to understand age-related differences. The work is guided by experienced mentors in cardiac arrest, aging, and neuroinflammation, aiming to translate findings into better care for older patients who survive cardiac arrest. By examining inflammasome pathways and age-related changes, the project seeks to uncover why older brains may fare worse after global cerebral ischemia. The environment includes strong mentorship, established collaborators, and access to relevant animal models and assays.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could inform age-tailored strategies to protect the brain after cardiac arrest and improve cognitive outcomes for survivors.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work in similar models has linked age-related inflammation and cell death pathways to worse outcomes after brain injury, supporting the approach's relevance.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Colorado Denver
Aurora, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Basak, Jacob — University of Colorado Denver
- Study coordinator: Basak, Jacob
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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How aging affects the brain's response after cardiac arrest
This study looks at how brain damage happens after a heart stops beating, especially how this affects older people differently, using mice to learn about the brain's response and memory changes.
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Aging Well with HIV: Alcohol, Risk Reduction, and Education Center (AWAR3E)
A center at Yale is exploring how aging with HIV interacts with alcohol use to create inflammation and frailty, with the goal of finding biomarkers and potential treatments.
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Multi-center study on how ventilation during CPR relates to cardiac arrest outcomes
A large, real-world study will look at how ventilation during CPR affects survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in adults.
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Specialized post-arrest care after cardiac arrest
A large, nationwide effort tests whether transferring cardiac arrest patients to a specialized post-arrest care center improves recovery compared with usual care.
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Cognitive SuperAging: Exploring why some octogenarians stay sharp in memory
This NIH grant studies why a small group of people aged 80+ keep memory skills as good as much younger people, hoping to understand how to protect memory as we age.
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Biological aging across the lifespan through a national high school-to-adult study
This grant uses a long-running national study of students and adults to collect saliva biomarkers of aging, alongside surveys, to understand how aging markers relate to health and life experiences.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.