# Molecular imaging of neuroinflammation in repetitive mild traumatic brain injury

> **NIH VA IK2** · VA PUGET SOUND HEALTHCARE SYSTEM · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Candidate: This Career Development Award (CDA2) describes research and training activities for Garth Terry,
MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist in the Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center
at VA Puget Sound. His immediate career goal is to combine his established training in positron emission
tomography (PET) with newly acquired and ongoing training in the pathobiology and translational research of
mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and strengthen his training in group-wise neuroimage statistical analysis. Long-
term, he intends to establish an independent research program focused on using molecular neuroimaging to
enhance understanding and guide therapeutic development for neuropsychiatric disorders. Research:
Approximately 20% of service members returning from Iraq have experienced mTBI resulting in somatic,
cognitive, and behavioral symptoms leading to substantial disability and interference with job and family
relationships. Neuroinflammation has been implicated as an important contributor to the acute and chronic
effects of blast mTBI, and is associated with subsequent neurodegeneration. Both Veterans with history of blast-
related mTBI and a battlefield-relevant mouse model of repetitive blast mTBI demonstrate persistently elevated
IL-6. Furthermore, blast-exposed mice demonstrate persistent microglial pathology that is strikingly similar to the
neuropathology very recently identified in Veterans with blast-induced mTBI. This proposal specifically
addresses the need to understand if neuroinflammation is persistent following blast mTBI by imaging the
translocator protein kDa 18 (TSPO), a well-validated biomarker of neuroinflammation and a protein associated
with microglial activation. Using PET and the TSPO selective radioligand [18F]DPA-714, Dr. Terry will image mice
following blast mTBI (SA1), which provides a unique opportunity to control injury repetition and acuity, and to
characterize in vivo imaging results against ex vivo histopathological evidence of neuroinflammation and
neurodegeneration. Second, Dr. Terry will image TSPO using PET in Veterans with a history of blast mTBI (SA2)
to demonstrate the presence of chronic neuroinflammation. Resulting quantitative images of neuroinflammation
will be correlated against clinical measures and other biomarkers already collected from those Veterans. Career
Development Plan: This proposal serves Dr. Terry's short- and long-term goals by building his translational and
clinical research expertise in three critical areas: 1) translational application of PET neuroimaging, 2) translational
biomarker study and clinical assessments of blast mTBI, and 3) become an independent researcher-clinician
within VHA. Professional development activities include: routinely scheduled meetings with career mentors,
formal graduate coursework in statistics, neuroinflammation, and PET analysis; regular participation and
presentation for local seminars in mTBI and neuroimaging; and pr...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10909802
- **Project number:** 5IK2CX001787-06
- **Recipient organization:** VA PUGET SOUND HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** Garth Terry
- **Activity code:** IK2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10909802

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10909802, Molecular imaging of neuroinflammation in repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (5IK2CX001787-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10909802. Licensed CC0.

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