Overview
The CARE Consortium (Concussion Assessment, Research and Education) is a collaborative research program working to better understand sports-related concussions among varsity athletes including students at the four Military Service Academies. The consortium has been impactful for over a decade and now operates through the CSI Study.
Key Facts
- Partners: NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), Department of Defense/Department of War, Uniformed Services University
- Current phase: CSI Study — examining long-term brain health in service members and athletes
- Cohort: 500 military service members and former collegiate student athletes
- NCAA partnership duration: 10 years (as of March 2024)
Research Focus Areas
Phase 1: Acute Injury Studies
Studied what happens in hours, days, and months after concussion; helped shape international framework for classifying traumatic brain injury.Phase 2: Longitudinal Brain Health (Current)
Examining changes multiple months or years later to identify early warning signs of long-term problems through advanced imaging and biomarker analysis.Methodology
The CARE Consortium utilizes:
- Advanced MRI scans (CARE MRI integrating multimodal imaging biomarkers)
- PET (positron emission tomography) imaging
- Blood-based markers showing inflammation or damage
- Cognitive assessments
- Genetic testing
Strategic Implications
The consortium's decade of work has produced the most robust and well-characterized concussion cohort ever collected. Early results from Phase 2 show promising biomarkers that remain elevated long after injury, suggesting they could play a role in tracking recovery and predicting outcomes.
Related Programs
- CSI Study (Concussion Assessment, Research and Education Service Academy Longitudinal mTBI Outcomes Study Integrated)
- Warfighter Brain Health Hub initiatives