How gut microbes affect brain healing after traumatic brain injury
Official title: Trauma, the gut, and the brain: the gut microbiota-microglia axis in traumatic brain injury
Funded at Northwestern University · NIH-11160638 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Exploring whether changing gut bacteria or giving short-chain fatty acids can help people recover thinking and mood after a traumatic brain injury.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Northwestern University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chicago, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2022 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $610,090 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NS127865-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11160638 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People who have experienced a traumatic brain injury, including those with ongoing cognitive or psychiatric symptoms, would be the most likely candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without a history of TBI or whose problems are driven by causes unrelated to gut-microglia inflammation may not benefit from this line of work.
What this research studies
If you have had a traumatic brain injury (TBI), researchers will look at how your gut bacteria and the small molecules they make influence immune cells in the brain called microglia. The team will compare gut microbial communities, measure short-chain fatty acids like acetate, butyrate, and propionate, and examine signs of brain inflammation and behavior. They will test whether giving these fatty acids or altering the gut microbiome reduces brain inflammation and improves cognitive or psychiatric outcomes. Work will combine laboratory experiments and samples relevant to human TBI to find links that could guide new treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could lead to new microbiome-based or dietary therapies that reduce brain inflammation and improve thinking and mood after TBI.
How similar studies have gone: Animal and preclinical work from the investigators' lab and others showed improved outcomes with short-chain fatty acid supplementation, but effectiveness in people remains largely untested.
Where this research is happening
-
Northwestern University
Chicago, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schwulst, Steven J — Northwestern University
- Study coordinator: Schwulst, Steven J
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Trauma, the gut, and the brain: how gut microbes and microglia affect brain injury
A study to understand how gut bacteria and brain immune cells interact after a traumatic brain injury and how this might influence recovery.
-
Investigating the connection between gut health and brain injury recovery
This study is looking at how a traumatic brain injury can change the bacteria in your gut and how that might affect your brain health, with the hope of finding ways to help you recover better, including trying out some dietary supplements that could improve gut health and brain function.
-
Fecal microbiome therapy to help older adults recover after brain injury
A trial explores giving a healthy gut microbiome to help people, especially older adults, recover better after a traumatic brain injury.
-
Effects of gut bacteria on brain health after traumatic injury
This study is looking at how changes in gut bacteria after a traumatic brain injury might affect thinking and memory over time, and it hopes to find ways to help improve brain health by boosting the good bacteria that support brain function.
-
AI-enhanced virtual reality tool to support remote emergency brain surgery training in Tanzania
A new AI-powered virtual reality tool helps non-experts in low-resource areas get real-time remote guidance for emergency traumatic brain injury surgery.
-
Gut microbiome and Parkinson's disease: how gut bugs relate to symptoms and progression
A multi-year study will look at gut bacteria and related markers in people with Parkinson’s disease to understand how the gut-brain connection may influence symptoms and progression.
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.