Emory granted $14.5M to treat brain injuries

Emory University Medical Center has been awarded a $14.5 million grant to work with Grady Memorial Hospital and Morehouse School of Medicine to help people with traumatic brain injury, officials said Tuesday.

Emory has already performed preliminary studies on the promising effects of the hormone progesterone on treating acute traumatic brain injury patients, and the new study will expand that work.

If the three-year study reaches certain goals, researchers could receive another $14 million to continue the work. The grant was awarded by the National Institutes of Health, and will include enrolling 1,140 patients at 17 medical centers in 15 states.

Grady will serve as the lead center, led by Emory faculty researchers along with those from the Morehouse School of Medicine.

“We found a 50 percent reduction in mortality in those patients treated with progesterone,” said lead investigator Dr. David Wright of the pilot study. “Furthermore, we found signs that progesterone improved functional outcomes and reduced disability in patients with moderate brain injury.”

Every 15 seconds, a U.S. citizen sustains a significant traumatic brain injury, with approximately 1.5 to 2 million adults and children in the United States suffering from these injuries each year, officials said.

Traumatic brain injuries have also been labeled the “signature wound” of U.S. soldiers in the field of battle, officials said.