Neurosensory Disorders in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Michael Hoffer, MD, FACS is Professor of Otolaryngology and Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Hoffer assumed these roles after an over twenty year military career in which he studied mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) on active duty service members . Dr. Hoffer performs both basic and clinical research and has an active practice in Neurotology. Dr. Hoffer’s lab focuses on traumatic damage to the inner ear and brain. He has authored or co-authored over sixty papers and has a particular expertise in dizziness and balance disorders as well as neurosensory consequences after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Dr. Hoffer and his collaborators have done pioneering work on pharmaceutical countermeasures for mTBI as well as optimized diagnosis and management of neurosensory disorders seen after mTBI. Dr. Carey Balaban is Professor of Otolaryngology in the School of Medicine, with secondary appointments in Neurobiology, Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Bioengineering and Director of the Center for National Preparedness. He earned his bachelor’s degree in History at Michigan State University and his Ph.D. degree in Anatomy from the University of Chicago. Dr. Balaban’s research program has been supported with funding from a variety of sources including the NIH, NASA, the Office of Naval Research and several other agencies and corporations. He has extensive experience in conducting multidisciplinary, cross-cutting research in biomedical sciences, engineering and social sciences and has participated in the emerging fields of augmented cognition and neuroergonomics. His over-riding interest has been formulation of mathematical models, heuristic models and teleological approaches to interpret data from basic science experiments in terms of behavioral and clinical phenomena. Using this approach, he has examined the interplay between neurological and psychological features of co-morbid aspects of balance disorders, migraine and anxiety disorders. His recent work is extending the implications of these models to analogous features of mild traumatic brain injury, acoustic trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, including work in the nascent field of mass spectrometric histological imaging. He has also participated in developing new patented technologies to gauge situational awareness and cognitive engagement from postural orienting responses and decision support software for responses to mass casualty events. In addition to more than 170 peer-reviewed basic research and scholarly articles and two patents, Dr. Balaban is an author of two books on seventeenth century medicine.

• Section 1: Defining Mild TBI 1. What is Mild TBI?  Translational Definitions to Guide Translational Research (will include historical perspectives)2. Clinical trajectories of mild TBI3. Disentangling Peripheral and Central Neurosensory Processing Effects4. Defining a “cure”: when is the patient “good-to-go”5. Concussion Center Dynamics for Diagnosis and TreatmentSection 2: Overview of Neurosensory Consequences6. Neurosensory Disorders in Animal Models of blunt trauma mTBI  7. Neurosensory Disorders in Animal Models of blast mTBI8. Neurosensory Symptom Clusters:  Sense-Making and Story Lines 9. Neurosensory, neuropsychological and psychiatric co-morbidities in mTBI10. Neurosensory manifestations of tauopathies and other neurodegenerative sequelaeSection 3: Neurosensory Disorders in Clinical Practice11. Balance Disorders associated with mTBI12. Hearing Disorders associated with mTBI13. Headaches and mTBI    14. Cognitive Issues and mTBI    15. Sleep Issues and mTBI16. Smell and Taste Disorders in mTBI 17. Visual processing disorders in mTBI18. Autonomic nervous system and mTBISection 4: Diagnosis and Treatment 19. Overview of Current Techniques20. Neurosensory Diagnostic Techniques for mTBI:  Field and Clinic21. Radiologic and Functional Imaging in mTBI    22. Current Treatment Modalities for mTBI23. Vestibular Rehabilitation for mTBI 24. Cognitive Rehabilitation for mTBI    25. Emerging Diagnostic Modalities  26. Emerging Treatment Modalities