Tamara Bushnik, PhD

My research is primarily focused on longitudinal outcomes in community-dwelling individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

In particular, my clinical research laboratory has two foci: TBI as a chronic condition and the impact of social determinants of health on outcomes after TBI. Both of these research interests have been supported by the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) program that is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) in the Administration for Community Living (ACL). The TBIMS are competitively funded every 5 years and are a collaborative network of 16 rehabilitation hospitals across the United States. In each grant cycle (currently 2022-2027), each TBIMS contributes to a longitudinal national database which documents the natural history of recovery following a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) that required inpatient rehabilitation, performs one site-specific research project, collaborates with other TBIMS on joint research projects (known as modules), and actively disseminates research findings.

In the current research cycle, the site-specific research project focuses on a virtual wellness intervention for individuals with TBI who are at least one-year post-injury and are living in the community. The intervention – Mindfulness, Exercise, and Nutrition to Optimize Resilience/Recovery (MENTOR) – is an 8 week intervention to determine its effect on quality of life, participation, and community living in persons with TBI.

In the past research cycle (2017-2022), the “Living with TBI” research project was a mixed methods study to examine the barriers and facilitators of living with TBI. The result of this study was the creation of 3 toolkits through the use of a community-based participatory action research framework: for individuals with TBI, care partners, and allied health care professionals. The individual with TBI toolkit is currently available.