CSR&D Research Career Scientist Award Application

SUMMARY Dr. Haghighi’s research specialty is in medical epigenetics with applications to traumatic brain Injury (TBI) and suicidal behavior. These epigenetic studies involve how genes are differentially transcribed and regulated, within human clinical and postmortem brain samples, providing a snapshot of potential transcriptional regulatory abnormalities associated with disease progression and neuropathology. Dr. Haghighi’s clinical studies show how environmental exposure affects the epigenome. Specifically, in her studies of blast exposures and related injuries and neurotrauma, she investigates how response to repeated blast-exposure induces molecular perturbations including long-term transcriptional regulatory changes that result in symptoms of sleep disturbances, anxiety, cognitive deficits and depression and PTSD. As our Veterans with TBI are at greater risk of suicide, Dr. Haghighi has developed a complementary research program focusing on neuroinflammatory & epigenetic mechanisms in suicidal behavior. This is because environmental exposures such as TBI and other injuries during military service significantly contribute to suicide risk and are associated with increased inflammation. As such, Dr. Haghighi’s research program is highly impactful in bringing a greater understanding into the etiological basis for the risk of suicide, towards improved clinical care of our Veterans.