How head injuries affect the heart and blood vessels
Official title: Traumatic Brain Injury and Vascular Disease
Funded at Veterans Health Administration · NIH-11516262 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project is looking at whether past traumatic brain injuries cause changes in blood vessels and raise the risk of heart disease for people who have had head injuries.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Veterans Health Administration NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2021 |
| Project end | September 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5I01BX004836-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11516262 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults with a history of traumatic brain injury—especially veterans—who can share medical records, undergo imaging, or provide blood or other samples for research.
✕Less likely to help
People without a history of head injury or whose health issues are unrelated to vascular disease are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
You would be part of research linking prior head injury to long-term blood vessel and heart problems by combining clinical data from veterans with laboratory studies. The team will use medical imaging, patient records, and biological samples alongside lab experiments to study how stress hormones, inflammation, and other mechanisms might speed atherosclerosis after TBI. If lab results point to promising targets, the researchers plan to test treatments aimed at protecting blood vessels and reducing cardiac risk. The goal is to translate findings into ways to lower heart disease and deaths associated with prior TBI.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to ways to prevent or treat blood vessel damage and lower heart disease risk in people who have had a traumatic brain injury.
How similar studies have gone: Previous clinical studies have linked TBI to higher coronary calcification and greater cardiovascular mortality, but the biological mechanisms and targeted treatments remain largely unproven.
Where this research is happening
-
Veterans Health Administration
Ann Arbor, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Eitzman, Daniel T — Veterans Health Administration
- Study coordinator: Eitzman, Daniel T
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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.