Lawrence M. Lewis, M.D.

DEPARTMENT OF Internal Medicine
Keywords: biomechanics, injury, wrist fractures, injury prevention

Injury is the leading cause of death in people under 45 years of age and causes more years of life lost than heart disease and cancer combined. Head injury is one of the leading causes of death and disability. Over the last two years, our collaborative group has started focusing on mild traumatic brain injury. There are over 300,000 mild traumatic brain injuries occurring in the United States as a result of sporting activities alone. Our group is measuring the forces involved in sports-related head injury to better understand the threshold of force required to cause a concussion. We are also investigating whether concussion leads to long-term memory and learning impairment and whether the likelihood of suffering a concussion is related to certain genotypes.

We are currently measuring the forces and accelerations associated with heading a soccer ball and evaluating whether these impacts cause short- or long-term cognitive impairment on neuropsychiatric testing. We have previously published work measuring the accelerations associated with high school football, hockey and soccer and also recently published data regarding the protective effects of football helmets.

We are investigating a transgenic animal model of concussive head injury to better understand the natural history and pathophysiology of concussion. It will also help to better understand the role of apolipoprotein isoforms in the susceptibility to concussion and its long-term sequelae.

Once we understand thresholds for mild traumatic brain injury, we will attempt to decrease the force of sporting impacts below this threshold through the use of protective equipment or rule changes.

Our collaborative group includes members from the Departments Biomedical Engineering, Psychiatry, Neurology, Neurosurgery and Radiology.