Using brain scans and donated tissue to understand how head injuries lead to dementia
Neuroimaging and clinical Endpoints With High-dimensional analysis Of Pathological Endophenotypes in TBI (NEW-HOPE-TBI)
This project combines brain scans, health records, and donated brain tissue to learn how past traumatic brain injuries or repeated head impacts can raise the risk of dementia in adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Washington NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11162377 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From the patient's point of view, researchers are building a nationwide, open-access resource that links clinical information, antemortem neuroimaging, and postmortem brain tissue from adults with diverse head‑injury histories and dementia. The team will enroll and expand a network of well-characterized brain donors and cohorts, collect standardized imaging and clinical data, and create a shared biorepository of samples. Advanced 'high-dimensional' analyses will compare imaging patterns with microscopic pathology to find biological signatures tied to head trauma and dementia. The resource is meant to accelerate future diagnostic tests and treatments by making data and specimens widely available to the research community.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults (21+) with a history of traumatic brain injury, repetitive head impacts, or with Alzheimer's disease/related dementia who can provide imaging and health data and are willing to consider brain donation are ideal candidates for participation.
Not a fit: People without prior head injury or those unwilling/unable to provide imaging, clinical records, or consent for tissue donation are less likely to benefit directly from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could improve diagnosis of dementia caused or accelerated by head injury and point to ways to prevent or slow decline.
How similar studies have performed: Previous imaging and brain‑bank studies have linked head injury to later dementia, but this large, open, nationwide effort that directly ties detailed scans to high-resolution tissue analysis is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Seattle, United States
- University of Washington — Seattle, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Keene, Christopher Dirk — University of Washington
- Study coordinator: Keene, Christopher Dirk
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 below.