Mark Burns, PhD
Professor & Department Vice-Chair
Director, Center for Neural Injury and Recovery
Connect
Research Building, Room EG17-A
Phone: 202.687.4735
E-mail: mark.burns@georgetown.edu
Education
PhD, 2000, National University of Ireland
Dr Burns’ lab investigates the link between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Alzheimer’s disease. Exposure to TBI can quadruple the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and amyloid plaques similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s disease have been found in the brain of TBI fatalities. Dr Burns’ lab recently found that the same pathways that are activated long-term in Alzheimer’s disease are activated short-term after TBI. By blocking the activation of these pathways in mice, the physical disability or memory impairments following brain trauma were completely abolished and the amount of brain damage was reduced by over 70%. This research is providing new insights into how toxic proteins produced in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease and TBI are causing neuronal cell damage and memory loss.
First of its Kind Study Explains Why Rest is Critical After a Concussion
Doctors who order several days of rest after a person suffers a concussion are giving sound advice, say researchers, and new data from animal models explains why.
Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientists say rest — for more than a day — is critical for allowing the brain to reset neural networks and repair any short-term injury. The new study in mice also shows that repeated mild concussions with only a day to recover between injuries leads to mounting damage and brain inflammation that remains evident a year after injury.
Female and Male Mice Suffer, Recover from TBI Differently
Male mice have much greater brain distress in the week following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) than female mice, including skyrocketing inflammation and nerve cell death, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center.
The study, published today in GLIA, is the first to specifically examine how sex alters the time-course of inflammation in the brain after TBI, and their findings suggest that sex is an important factor to consider when designing and testing new drugs to treat TBI.