Newswise — Bethesda, Md. – Dr. David Brody, who is considered one of the world’s foremost researchers on traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases, has been appointed to the faculty of the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), a Department of Defense agency, and will direct the university’s Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine (CNRM).
Brody, a board-certified neurologist with both a research and clinical specialization in TBI and neurodegenerative diseases, is currently the Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is also the Washington University site director for the National Football League Neurological player care program.
Brody has developed and authenticated advanced imaging techniques to detect injury in the brain’s white matter, and helped show, for the first time, how to predict neurological function by directly measuring amyloid, an abnormal protein in the brain. He also helped discover that diffusion tensor imaging -- an advanced magnetic resonance imaging technique -- can reveal blast-related damage which hadn't been revealed by other imaging methods. These breakthrough findings could lead to better traumatic brain injury diagnosis and treatment in civilian and military populations.
“We are thrilled that Dr. Brody is coming to USU to lead the CNRM,” said Dr. Art Kellermann, dean of the Hébert School of Medicine at USU. “Solving the mysteries of traumatic brain injury is one of the greatest challenges facing modern medicine. At USU, we are committed to developing effective tests and treatments that will speed recovery and improve the lives of warfighters with TBI. Dr. Brody’s recruitment to USU represents a major step towards that goal.”
At USU, Brody will direct an interdisciplinary center comprised of approximately 200 federal subject matter experts. The CNRM spans 16 departments within USU’s School of Medicine and its Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, as well as six National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes. Clinical partners include Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital and Intrepid Spirit One.
The CNRM is focused on advancing and accelerating traumatic brain injury (TBI) research to improve recovery of warfighters. Brody previously led a team that worked in partnership with DoD researchers at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and at two sites in Afghanistan treating U.S. military personnel who sustained traumatic brain injury. In 2011, he served as a consultant to the medical advisor of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, traveling to Afghanistan at the request of then-JCS Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen with the “Gray Team” group of civilian and military experts evaluating the status of TBIs in troops in the combat zone.
Brody’s achievements have been recognized with several awards, including a Career Development Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, two large Department of Defense awards and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 award.
In addition to directing the CNRM, Dr. Brody will conduct collaborative research with laboratory scientists at the NINDS. “He is a world-class investigator who is well suited to lead the joint USU-NIH effort to advance the science of TBI,” noted Dr. Walter Koroshetz, NINDS director.
He has published extensively on TBI and related effects. Brody and his laboratory team at the Washington University in St. Louis are actively involved in studies of concussive traumatic brain injury, chronic traumatic encephalopathy and the increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. In 2012, he won the Washington University School of Medicine’s Distinguished Investigator Award. His clinical monograph entitled Concussion Care Manual: A Practical Guide was published by Oxford University Press in 2014. Brody is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurotrauma and Acta Neuropathologica and a permanent member of the NIH Acute Neural Injury and Epilepsy study section. He is the co-organizer of the Axon Injury and Repair Research Interest Group (part of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders) and is a member of the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences in the Neurosciences Program.
Brody received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 1992 and his medical and doctoral degrees from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2000. He completed his internship and neurology residency at Washington University.
Brody will fully assume his duties at USU and the NIH in August.
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About the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the nation’s federal health sciences university and the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. A large percentage of the university’s more than 5,200 physician and 1,000 advanced practice nursing alumni are supporting operations around the world, offering their leadership and expertise. USU also has graduate programs in biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research, and in oral biology. The University's research program covers a wide range of clinical and other topics important to both the military and public health. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.
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