Jessica M. Gill, PhD, RN

Dr. Jessica M. Gill is a tenure track investigator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and co-director of the biomarkers core for the Center for Neurosciences and Regenerative Medicine, who is uniquely positioned to undertake this proposed project. Dr. Gill has an established clinical and laboratory infrastructure to examine the biological mechanisms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and related comorbidities including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), post-concussive disorder (PCD), depression and neurological deficits.

Current projects include a project coordinated with Madigan Army Medical Center. Findings include alterations in tau and amyloid beta in acute and chronic TBI patients using the SIMOA system and alterations in sleep regulatory proteins and the activity of genes that regulate sleep in patients with brain injuries. Other collaborations include analyses of epigenetic modifications in athletes with repeated TBIs. Dr. Gill plans to use both the insights and infrastructure from current projects to initiate this novel project to address the critical issue of the molecular mechanisms of TBI-related symptoms in patients with repeated injuries, and the role of sleep in these biomarkers and patient outcomes. The project is expected to initiate a program of research that will identify novel interventions to treat TBI related impairments to address this critical issue in patients with TBIs.