# The Effect of Sex Dimorphisms on TBI Injury and Recovery

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2023 · $177,500

## Abstract

Project Summary
Every year in the United States alone, an estimated 475,000 children aged 0-14 suffer a traumatic brain injury
(TBI) with more than 7,000 deaths, 60,000 hospitalizations, and 600,000 emergency department visits. Study of
this prevalent condition has led researchers to believe that sexual dimorphisms in neurodevelopment may
contribute to the observed differences in TBI severity and recovery between male and female children. However,
it remains unknown how these sexual dimorphisms influence functional neural network reorganization and
subsequent changes in cognitive, behavioral, and motor function performance post-TBI. In this proposal, we
seek to address this knowledge gap by investigating the influence of dimorphic neuroanatomy on functional
neural network recovery in our translational pediatric pig TBI model. We hypothesize innate sexual dimorphisms
in piglets will correlate with specific differences in post-TBI neural network damage and reorganization as well
as cognitive, behavioral, and motor function performance at acute, sub-acute, and chronic time points. The
contribution of this work is highly significant as successful completion of this proposal will improve the current
understanding of how sexual dimorphisms may act as a premorbid risk factor that predisposes male and female
children to differing levels of TBI severity and recovery. This study also has broad reaching implications in
understanding sex differences in other neural injuries and diseases. Finally, testing in a translational pig model
is innovative due to representative brain anatomy and TBI pathophysiology between pigs and humans, thus
improving the translational potential of study findings.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10643320
- **Project number:** 1R21NS131526-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Franklin D West
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $177,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-06-15 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10643320

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10643320, The Effect of Sex Dimorphisms on TBI Injury and Recovery (1R21NS131526-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10643320. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*