Research Program

Dr. Keith Yeates was awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation Grant for his A-CATChy research program.  This grant is awarded to Canada's top researchers, in order to provide stable, long-term funding so that they can focus on ambitious, high-impact programs of research.

The A-CATChy Research plan has two core aims. Aim 1, focused on assessment, will improve diagnosis and prognosis of mTBI. The objective is to conduct a prospective, longitudinal, multi-site cohort study that assesses novel neurobiological and psychosocial markers (e.g., genes; psychological hardiness) hypothesized to (1) identify mTBI and (2) predict outcomes of mTBI. The findings will enable better detection of mTBI in children, especially those at risk for poor outcomes, and help identify modifiable risk factors. 

These factors are targeted by Aim 2, which will improve the treatment of persistent symptoms. The objective is to design and test neurocognitive and psychosocial interventions hypothesized to reduce children’s post-concussive symptoms. The interventions will be tested in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), first individually and subsequently in multi-arm RCTs involving promising biomedical treatments (e.g., melatonin, cervico-vestibular therapy).