Dominic Siler, M.D., Ph.D., has been named recipient of the inaugural Research and Innovation Award by the Donald D. Trunkey Center for Civilian and Combat Casualty Care at OHSU.

Each year an estimated 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury, injuries in which inflammation plays a role in neuronal damage and poor outcomes.  Siler, a resident in neurological surgery in the OHSU School of Medicine, will investigate the role of soluble epoxide hydrolase, which induces neuroinflammatory responses, in the worsening of brain damage following traumatic brain injury.

Siler and collaborator Holly Hinson, M.D., associate professor of neurology and neurocritical care in the School of Medicine, will use leading-edge technology with a novel imaging compound that can be viewed in the brain using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning. The novel imaging compound was created and provided by Jeanne Link, Ph.D., professor of diagnostic radiology and biomedical engineering in the OHSU School of Medicine.

Siler’s “Soluble epoxide hydrolase in traumatic brain injury: A pilot study,” is the inaugural recipient of the Trunkey Center Research and Innovation Award, which promotes progress on early-phase trauma research and innovation projects by providing opportunities for pilot testing, preliminary data collection, prototype development, feasibility or needs assessments or similar activities.  

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