Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center physician and researcher Christopher Miles, M.D., joined witnesses from the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the private sector this morning to update senators on research, diagnosis and treatment for traumatic brain injury and concussion in service members.
Miles, associate director of Wake Forest Baptist’s sports medicine program, assistant professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist, and site principal investigator for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-Department of Defense (DoD) CARE Consortium research, provided insight and recommendations from the academic clinician’s perspective.
Noting that concussions are not yet well understood, Miles, a former college football player himself, described Wake Forest Baptist’s key role in the NCAA-DoD CARE study, the largest study of concussion to date.
In addition, Miles highlighted Wake Forest School of Medicine’s bioengineering department and its lead role in force sensor research through helmet and mouth sensors and post-concussion biomarker data. This, he explained, could lead to a much-needed “gold standard” objective test to diagnose and guide the management of concussions.
Miles said that collaboration between military and civilian clinicians and researchers is crucial in this area of study, and he implored federal funding entities to prioritize concussion research.
“There is still great work to be done,” he said. “Evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of concussion should be standardized just as they are in other injuries or illnesses, driven by solid evidence-based practice. We must make activities safer, more enjoyable, and less of a burden on long-term health and the health care system. Researchers and clinicians must continue to grow the data needed to make evidence-based recommendations.”
Media Relations
Joe McCloskey: jmcclosk@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-1273
Eryn Johnson: eryjohns@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-8228