Home Department: Undeclared
Mentor: Michael Zeineh (Radiology)

"MRI, 3D Scatter Light Microscopy, and BBQ Histology to Investigate TBI-induced Biomechanical Axonal Strain in Pig Models"

Traumatic brain injuries account for 30-50% of injury-related fatalities in the U.S., yet current surveillance tools fail to properly diagnose severe symptoms like concussions or intracerebral hemorrhages. Understanding the microstructural neural changes induced by TBIs is imperative in improving their diagnosis and alleviating patient and community burden. Yoojun’s project aims to investigate how TBIs affect brain connectivity and understand their biomechanical strain on axons in pig post-mortem tissue samples. Yoojun will utilize a combination of neuroimaging, staining, and microscopy tools to visualize changes from the individual axons to the brain and discover new structural markers of TBIs.