The oxygen cascade as a therapeutic target in humans with hypoxic-ischemic brain injury

During a cardiac arrest the heart stops beating and blood flow to the brain stops, starving the brain of oxygen and causing a brain injury. In resuscitated patients whose heart starts beating again, this brain injury is the number one cause of death. As no therapies are available to treat this brain injury, my research will determine ways to improve the treatment of post-cardiac arrest patients with a brain injury. My research will use measurement probes placed directly in brain tissue as well as the analysis of blood entering and leaving the brain in humans to: 1) determine how to restore optimal oxygen levels in the brain; 2) develop tests to identify patient specific factors underlying low brain oxygen levels that can then help guide personalized patient care; and 3) investigate the molecular mechanisms of this brain injury. This work will be foundational to the development of new therapies to treat brain injuries caused by low oxygen levels in the brain. By determining widely implementable techniques to identify how oxygen delivery is impaired at the bedside, we will be able to tailor care in central and rural settings within British Columbia and provide patients with the specific treatments that work best for them.