Contact PD/PI: KIEHL, KENT A
Project Summary/Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a global public health concern affecting millions of individuals in the United States [1], with
more than 13 million reporting extended symptoms and disability following a TBI [2]. The costs of acute healthcare related
to TBI exceed $10 billion and over $75 billion when including extended indirect costs and loss of productivity [3]. TBI is
disproportionately represented among incarcerated samples, with incidence rates approximately ten times higher than in the
general population [4, 5]. TBI also presents as a criminogenic risk factor with sequelae that include emotional liabilities,
disinhibition, and substance abuse [6-11]. Our team has conducted neuroscience research and treatment studies among
forensic populations for over 20 years, examining mental health, addiction, personality disorders, and other forensic issues.
The parent grant (R01 NS126742) for this administrative supplement (NOT-OD-24-031) focuses on the consequences of
head injury and protracted cognitive and neural deficits in forensic populations. As we describe here, the analytic strategies
involved in this project employ advanced machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to predict TBI
and its associated cognitive decline trajectory, which raises major bioethical questions. To directly address NINDS proposed
targets, and to supplement the aims of our parent R01, we will conduct bioethical research, stakeholder analysis, and
empirical work concerning diagnostic neurobiological research utilizing AI/ML for TBI, the return of results to research
participants, risk of re-identification, and the conduction of clinical trials in forensic populations. Overall, the important
work of integrating vulnerable stakeholder viewpoints into bioethical inquiry holds the potential to impact future bioethical
related policy directions as requested in NOT-OD-24-031.