Sydney Vita, PhD

My research focuses on the combined effects of repeated mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI) and intermittent alcohol exposure during adolescence on brain pathology and behavior throughout the life cycle. Adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability to the damaging effects of both TBI and alcohol, it is also a period during which a person is at high risk for incurring TBIs and participating in binge alcohol consumption.

Current topics of study include:

• Effects of adolescent rmTBI and alcohol on blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity. One shared target of TBI and alcohol consumption is the BBB, an intricately linked cellular and molecular structure that maintains homeostasis in the microenvironment of the brain by regulating access of blood-borne substances into the parenchyma. The overlap in these mechanisms suggests the resulting damage from each insult may be compounded when the insults are combined. As alterations to BBB structure and function have enduring consequences for brain health, we are investigating whether these insults will cause an exacerbation of these effects.
   
• Effects of adolescent rmTBI and alcohol on the development of dementia. A history of rmTBI is believed to be the primary factor in the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease associated with dementia. Dementias have also been linked to a prior pattern of alcohol misuse.