Bedside EEG to find and treat harmful brain activity after severe head injury
Official title: ELECTRO-BOOST: Electroencephalography for cerebral trauma recovery and oxygenation
Funded at Yale University · NIH-11139386 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses continuous brain monitoring in people with severe traumatic brain injury to find and guide treatment of seizures and abnormal electrical activity that can worsen recovery.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Yale University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Haven, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2020 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $653,655 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NS117904-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11139386 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with severe traumatic brain injury treated in a neuro-intensive care unit who can undergo continuous EEG (and often brain oxygen/metabolic) monitoring are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People with mild head injuries who do not require intensive monitoring or those without electrographic abnormalities are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
If you had a severe traumatic brain injury and were in the ICU, doctors would place continuous EEG monitors (and in some cases brain oxygen sensors) to watch for electrographic seizures and high-frequency abnormal discharges. The team will track how often these patterns occur, measure their effects on brain oxygen and metabolism, and follow clinical recovery. They will also examine whether standard clinical treatments reduce these abnormal patterns and related metabolic stress. The work combines data from a large, multicenter patient group to make the findings useful across different hospitals.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could let clinicians detect treatable brain activity early and guide therapies to reduce secondary brain injury and improve recovery after severe TBI.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has linked these EEG patterns to worse outcomes, but using EEG-guided treatment to prevent secondary brain injury is not yet proven and remains relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Yale University
New Haven, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gilmore, Emily — Yale University
- Study coordinator: Gilmore, Emily
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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.