Preserving Brain Tissue with Stem Cells

September 3, 2020

UT Health physicians use supercomputers to interpret results of traumatic brain injury clinical trial

Published on September 3, 2020 by Aaron Dubrow

Corpus callosum, the primary region of interest in Juranek and Cox's TBI studies, reconstructed from Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data.

Corpus callosum, the primary region of interest in Juranek and Cox’s TBI studies, reconstructed from Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data. [Credit: Jenifer Juranek, UT Health]

Individuals with traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, frequently experience the shrinking or atrophying of brain tissue near where the injury occurred, causing additional damage beyond the original harm. If this can be prevented, many could function in the future who cannot now.

Few therapies currently exist to treat TBIs, but studies suggest that cell-based, or stem cell, therapies can help. Since 2012, Charles S. Cox, Jr., director of the Pediatric Program in Regenerative Medicine at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), has been running clinical trials for children and adults with traumatic brain injuries who received treatment with stem cells. Read Full Article