Whether caused by a car crash, sports injury, or another severe blow to the head, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause severe, lasting physical and psychological effects. These complex injuries present differently in every brain, but neurologists like Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, MD, PhD, are committed to finding the right treatment for the right patient. Since arriving at Penn in 2016, he has built a thriving program dedicated to studying the effects of TBI and combining imaging, genomic, and tissue biomarkers to develop more targeted, personalized therapies.
In addition to serving as director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Research Center and associate director for clinical research in the Penn Center for Brain Injury and Repair, he was awarded a five-year Presidential Professorship by University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann. “At the uncharted frontier of brain science and traumatic injury, few investigators have expanded our knowledge quite like [Dr. Diaz-Arrastia],” she said of his appointment. “Ramon is a pioneering force in exploring the intricacies of neural damage and repair, and as Presidential Professor [of Neurology], he will further strengthen Penn’s vital neurological research and exceptional clinical care.”
His research, which is based at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, has not only showcased the value of an interdisciplinary Trauma Center, but it has garnered financial support from institutions like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense. In less than four years, Diaz-Arrastia’s team has received 11 federal grants, placing PPMC among only a handful of medical centers with such robust TBI and subacute brain injury funding — and he shows no signs of slowing down.
Q: Tell me about your path to Presby.
A: I didn’t go to medical school expecting to become a neurologist, but I took a neuroanatomy and neuroscience course during my first year at Baylor College of Medicine and was blown away by how fascinating the brain is. I became interested in epilepsy, and over the years, my focus shifted to epileptogenesis — how a normal neural circuit becomes epileptic — and TBI. After completing my residency and fellowship at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, I returned to Texas for 18 years and established a TBI research program at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
I was later recruited to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Maryland, and served as the director for Clinical Research at the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine — the federal intramural research program for TBI, and a partnership between USUHS and the NIH intramural program. The program was established in response to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the realization that many soldiers were coming home with brain injuries.
I’m very proud of the work we did there, but eventually I realized my personality and interests were better suited to a traditional academic medical center. I’d known Dr. Frances Jensen [chair of Neurology at Penn] for many years from the epilepsy world, and we got to talking about a new trauma center being built at PPMC and the opportunity to establish a reinvigorated clinical TBI research program.
Q: Can you describe some of your current research goals?
A: Our work is split into two types: large, multi-institutional studies in which we often play a leading role, and our own local studies.
One of the collaborative studies we’re participating in is TRACK-TBI (Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in TBI). I’ve been involved since the beginning about 10 years ago, and when I moved to Penn, we became a TRACK-TBI site. There are 18 neuro trauma centers involved, and our goal is to collect highly granular data on the history of TBI in 3,000 patients and to identify biomarkers that will lead to the next generation of clinical trials.
Our own research program also allows us to be more innovative and exploratory. We’re particularly interested in traumatic injury to blood vessels, and we’ve been looking at molecular biomarkers that have a role in a microvascular dysfunction. We’re developing imaging to measure vascular function, and we’ve been doing some early studies examining whether sildenafil — better known as Viagra — can be used in patients with TBI to improve the function of damaged microvessels.
Q: What about your work excites you?
A: Penn as an institution values investigation and discovery. There’s a shared drive to innovate, to be at the forefront, and to develop better therapies, that permeates every level, from the dean and faculty, to the residents and nurses — everyone. Having the opportunity to work alongside colleagues in neurosurgery, trauma surgery, and basic science also allows us to be collaborative and multidisciplinary in our approach to research and clinical care. Plus, Penn is really successful in attracting talented young neurologists who are eager to make new discoveries in the field. There’s a lot to be excited about.
Q: In between earning grants and making headway in the understanding of TBI, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
A: History has been a lifelong interest of mine, but very recently, I’ve become interested in woodworking! It’s something I’d wanted to do for a very long time, but I never could find the time or space to get started. I have been building practical furniture pieces, such as coffee tables, bookshelves, and entertainment centers as gifts for my kids, who are starting their families and setting up their homes.