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“Our minds connect with the outside world through
our senses,” says Dr. Robin Green. In the case of a
traumatic brain injury, such as a car accident or
multiple concussions, the senses can be disrupted
and, without proper care, long-term recovery for
patients can be at risk.
Robin is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in
traumatic brain injury and a senior scientist in
cognitive neurosciences at Toronto Rehabilitation
Institute - University Health Network. In studying the
relationship between brain and behaviour, she seeks
to understand how our brains recover after serious
injuries and what impedes their recovery. Her interest
in brain injury research was sparked when a personal
acquaintance sustained irreversible damage to the
central nervous system.
Fascinated by all aspects of thinking, she took
a course in neuropsychology at university and was
hooked. “I didn’t know that discipline existed!” she
recalls. She went on to complete a PhD at Cambridge
University and clinical training in neuropsychology at
the University Health Network in Toronto.
Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of
disability in people under 40. While Robin’s work
has given her a better understanding of patterns
of recovery across time, she admits that one of her
greatest frustrations is “not being able to do enough
to fix people’s lives.”
That could change, as Robin is spearheading the
development of a provincial research centre in which
interventions will be delivered through participation
in research. The centre will scale up clinical care,
reaching patients across the province by delivering
group-based interventions over the internet,
similar to Telehealth. With approximately 400,000
Canadians living with a persistent disability from
traumatic brain injury that can prevent them from
going back to school or work, access to continued
care is key.
Many people live in remote areas where access to
specialized health care is limited, so the addition of
the provincial centre could provide valuable ongoing
care to these patients. It will also provide Robin and
her team with research data.
“As patients’ therapies come to an end, our
research shows that their brains start to show signs
of deterioration,” she explains. “It is essential to get
interventions out to these people.”
The plan is to set up the centre so that it is self-
sustaining, but substantial infrastructure is needed
to reach such a large population. Robin and her
colleagues are seeking donors and lobbying the
Ministry of Health. The centre could have widespread
impact; the interventions which they are designing
could help not only people with traumatic brain
injuries, but also those with dementia and those who
have suffered a stroke.
Confidently balancing life at home with her husband
and beautiful twin daughters and her work at Toronto
Rehab, Robin’s effort to improve long-term recovery for
patients is remarkable. As she continues her research
into better treatments for traumatic brain injury, we
can be grateful for her determination and success and
should be proud to call her an Old Girl.
Researching recovery:
understanding how the brain heals
ROBIN GREEN 1982
Profile by Tara Dermastja Scott 1997
PROFILES