Project Title: The role of acquired brain injury in amplifying dementia risk through modifiable factors

Grant Name: 2025 Health Professional-Investigator Award, jointly funded by Health Research BC 

Grant Duration: 2026-2030 (four years)

Research Lay Summary:

Acquired brain injuries (ABIs) like traumatic brain injury or stroke can cause long-term issues with thinking, mood, and daily life. They also increase dementia risk, but we still do not fully understand how or how best to prevent it.

Dr. Gershon Spitz's research will explore how ABIs worsen known dementia risks (e.g., high blood pressure, depression, inactivity) and by studying blood markers of early brain damage and inflammation.

Using large Canadian health studies to track how ABIs affect dementia risk over time and identify unique risk factors, his work will also follow people recovering from a recent ABI, measuring these biomarkers and lifestyle factors to learn how they speed—or slow—brain changes linked to dementia.

Research findings will be shared through plain-language briefs, workshops, and online resources with healthcare providers, policymakers, and people living with ABIs. Ultimately, this project will guide new prevention strategies and create a clinical decision-support tool to help doctors spot those at highest risk. Tailored interventions based on these results could lower dementia rates and improve long-term care for ABI survivors.