A New Institute Focuses on Novel Treatments for Acute Brain Injury

Clinicians at the UTHealth Houston Novel Treatments for Acute Brain Injury Institute are working to improve the lives of patients with acute brain injury through novel treatment models and new therapeutics. Their goal is to transform care for brain-injured patients using a multidisciplinary approach that integrates leading-edge research, clinical expertise, and education.

Led by executive director H. Alex Choi, MD, professor in the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, the institute’s staff will translate state-of-the-art neurocritical care research directly to patient care, building on the innovative approach adopted by the UTHealth Houston Neurosciences Neurocritical Care Program, also led by Choi. The institute uses the concept of “nabi” to support its guiding principles.

“‘Nabi’means butterfly in Korean and symbolically represents the transformation patients undergo from hospitalization for a life-altering brain injury through the recovery process,” he says. “To us, it signifies transforming the clinical specialty of neurocritical care to focus on our patients’ needs throughout the continuum of care.”

Physicians and researchers at the institute prioritize the discovery of treatments and strategies that address the effects of brain injury and emphasize long-term interventions that improve quality of life. In its first year, the institute will open a virtual follow-up and urgent care clinic for patients discharged from a neurocritical care service.

“Patients are most vulnerable during transitions of care, especially from inpatient to outpatient care,” Choi says. “Our teleneurology clinic addresses this gap.”

Long-term goals of the institute include strategic innovations ranging from AI-driven rehabilitation programs to wearable patient-tracking devices to the development of new neurotherapeutics.

Jacques Morcos, MD, professor and chair of the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery and the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair at McGovern Medical School, welcomes the new institute as timely. “In a population of head-injured patients who do not require brain surgery, acute brain injury could be considered an orphan disease. Many of these patients face devastating injuries and will benefit from a multidisciplinary, patient-centered, and patient-specific approach,” he says.

In addition to Choi, core leaders of the institute are Sarah Wall, MSN, MBA, director of advanced practice nursing services at UTHealth Houston Neurosciences and director of operations; Robert Brown, MD, associate professor; Ritvij Bowry, MD, associate professor; Luis Torres, MD, assistant professor and director of the Neurocritical Care Fellowship; Sophie Ren, MD, PhD, associate professor; and Jung Hwan Kim, PhD, MS, associate professor. All are affiliated with the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at McGovern Medical School.