Research streams Trauma biology Trauma systems Trauma ethics

Trauma biology

This stream advances the science of trauma injury and its detection, from the cellular mechanisms of tissue damage after hemorrhage and reperfusion, to the portable imaging tools needed to diagnose and manage injury in austere and remote settings.

Trauma, Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury, Protection, and Recovery

This stream examines the biology and treatment of trauma-associated ischemia-reperfusion injury, supporting research into pharmacologic, biologic, and device-based interventions that may reduce tissue injury after hemorrhage, tourniquet use, vascular occlusion, REBOA, crush injury, and delayed reperfusion. Research priorities include candidate therapies to limit warm ischemia-reperfusion injury, medicated hemorrhage-control devices, protective vascular catheters, shunts, and grafts, and the study of mitochondrial injury, oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction, with translation from in vitro models to animal studies and early clinical trials, and a focus on recovery after battlefield trauma and prolonged evacuation.

Trauma Imaging in Austere and Remote Conditions

Modern battlefield care will require diagnostic capability that is portable, rugged, rapidly deployable, and useful where conventional imaging is unavailable. Western's strength in medical imaging positions it to contribute to the development, evaluation, and clinical integration of imaging tools for austere care, including portable imaging for field triage, imaging support for forward surgery, decision-support tools for prolonged casualty care, remote interpretation and telemedicine, imaging of blast injury, vascular injury, brain injury, and musculoskeletal trauma, and testing of military and civilian devices in realistic clinical scenarios.