On October 2 and 3, 2024, the Safar Center hosted guest professor Dr. Stefania Mondello as the keynote speaker as part of a two-day mini-symposium titled “Serum Biomarkers of Brain Injury in Neurocritical Care, Neurotrauma and Neurorehabilitation.” Dr. Mondello is a Tenured Professor at Messina University in Italy, and one of the leading investigators in the world on the topic of blood-based biomarkers of brain injury. Her prior work as the Director of Clinical Research at Banyan Biomarkers was instrumental to the ultimate successful FDA approval for the serum biomarkers GFAP and UCH-L1 in management of concussion. Her lecture was titled “Prognosis after TBI: What Do We Need to Predict?” and highlighted how her work has evolved from the diagnostic to the prognostic space, and into the potential use of biomarkers in target enrichment for clinical trials. The symposium also included nine lectures by local faculty in Critical Care Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Neurological Surgery, and Emergency Medicine who are currently using blood-based brain injury biomarkers in their research along with 10 trainee presentations for review by Dr. Mondello, from young investigators in the departments of Critical Care Medicine, Neurological Surgery, and PM&R.
We are grateful to Dr. Mondello from taking the time out of her busy schedule to come to the Safar Center and enlighten our faculty and trainees.