New book focusing on childhood TBI published

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health concern and a new book focuses on evaluating what is currently known about childhood TBI and the challenges faced by researchers and clinicians in this arena. The book is entitled "Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: New Frontiers in Clinical and Translational Research," edited by Vicki Anderson and Keith Owen Yeates and published by Cambridge University Press.

"Over the past 20 to 30 years, researchers and clinicians caring for children with TBI have learned that injuries to the developing brain cannot be understood or treated in the same manner as those occurring in adulthood," said Yeates, PhD, director of Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology at Nationwide Children's Hospital, director of the Center for Biobehavioral Health in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's and professor of Pediatrics, Psychology and Psychiatry at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "A separate knowledge base encompassing injury severity, developmental issues, and the role of the family is required for pediatric TBI. The majority of children with mild TBI will recover fully, but a significant number with more serious injury will experience a range of residual consequences, often resulting in lifelong involvement of healthcare professionals."

The book resulted from an international research conference held in late 2007 in San Diego, with financial support from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment.

"Our hope is to encourage an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to pediatric TBI," Yeates said. "We believe our book will help advance cutting edge research in this field and promote networking among investigators and clinicians."