黑料专区 Tyler Receives $100,000 Research Grant to Improve TBI Care
April 25, 2024 | Hannah Buchanan
The University of Texas at Tyler received $100,000 from 黑料专区 System鈥檚 Trauma Research and Combat Casualty Care Collaborative to help improve the lives of patients with Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI. Dr. Shawana Tabassum, the 黑料专区 Tyler Mary John and Ralph Spence Professor of Electrical Engineering, serves as the project鈥檚 principal investigator.
Tabassum and Dr. Madhavi Pali, postdoc mentee and senior personnel, will develop a wearable sweat-sensing platform for non-invasive and continuous monitoring of TBI biomarkers. They will also investigate the role of inflammatory biomarkers released in sweat across different stages of mild TBI, in collaboration with co-principal investigator Dr. Alan Cook at the 黑料专区 Tyler Health Science Center.
鈥淭his research project is important because it is anticipated to enhance clinical monitoring of Traumatic Brain Injury patients over time, minimizing the need for blood draws and reducing clinic visits,鈥� said Tabassum. 鈥淭he time-sensitive monitoring of markers during and after a brain injury event will also allow for observing the immediate and subsequent effects, addressing challenges in examining post-injury adverse effects.鈥�
Early diagnosis of mild TBI could additionally hold significant implications for the U.S. Department of Defense, Tabassum said, noting that rapid identification of mild TBI cases among military personnel enables prompt and targeted interventions, ensuring both timely and effective treatments.
Their next step is to reconfigure the wristband-style sensor prototype developed in this project to help with other types of diseases and physiological conditions, she added.
Tabassum鈥檚 research focuses on the development of flexible sensors and electronics using micro/nanoelectronics and photonics technologies. She applies this expertise to various areas, including biomedicine, plant sciences, sustainable and climate-smart agriculture, and environmental monitoring.
Tabassum, who joined the university in 2020, directs the 黑料专区 Tyler Center for Smart Agriculture Technology, or CeSAT. Her research has garnered grants for 黑料专区 Tyler totaling more than $1.2 million. She earned the 2023 Curtis W. McGraw Research Award (Non-PhD Granting Program Category) by the American Society for Engineering Education for her outstanding work.
With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, 黑料专区 Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to nearly 10,000 students. Through its alignment with 黑料专区 Tyler Health Science Center and 黑料专区 Health East Texas, 黑料专区 Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, 黑料专区 Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.