Since 2013, the NIH NeuroBioBank (NBB) has catalyzed scientific discovery through the centralization of resources aimed at the collection and distribution of human post-mortem brain tissue to understand conditions of the nervous system. The NBB network distributes samples to the research community studying neurological, developmental, and psychiatric disorders. Now, the Carver College of Medicine’s brain bank, called the Iowa Neuropathology Resource Laboratory (INRL), is part of the NBB network.

The Iowa Neuropathology Resource Lab was proud to present work from our collaboration with the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner and the Iowa Donor Network at the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) conference, held November 15–19 in San Diego, CA.

University of Iowa Health Care’s rare “brain bank” has contributed to a new study published in Nature that shows that repetitive head impact (RHI)-related brain injuries result in brain cell loss, inflammation, and vascular damage in young, former contact sport athletes. Importantly, many of these detrimental changes were seen in young athletes before the onset of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain condition that leads to problems with thinking and emotional regulation. The study was led by researchers from Boston University (BU) Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.