global leader in physics-based traumatic brain injury detection and prevention
Carissa Roper, PhD was a PANTHER Poster Competition winner in 2025 and earned Second Place in 2024. Where do PANTHER trainees go after their time in PANTHER? In Carissa’s case, it was an industry job. After completing my PhD in Computational Electromagnetics at UW Madison, I started a job two miles down the road at …
Four awards were given at PANTHER’s annual workshop for outstanding posters. Congratulations! 1st place: Pratyusa Kar Title: Glutamate Excitotoxicity in TBI: A Computational Framework for the Tripartite Junction 2nd place: Brandon Chelstrom Title: Broadband Axial and Shear Testing Device for Hydrogenous Soft Materials 3rd place: Abid Anam Shovon Title: AI-Based Automated Neural Phenotype Identification Honorable …
Some recent articles have explained all of the safety and regulations behind roller coasters. Like this article from Popular Science from May of 2026. The article covers the ASTM standards for construction and restraints and the conclusion of the article is that coasters are very carefully designed and injuries are extremely rare. “They’re looking at …
As reported by the New York Times, the House Oversight Committee issued a report that report blames the Navy for failing to study the brain health of Pilots. The report recommends that Congress pass legislation to study the problem. House Press Release states: “Based on the findings, the Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs is …
In Operation Epic Fury, more than half of 600 injured troops have brain injuries. Read the details in Stars and Stripes article: Iran war brain injuries could outlast US troops’ return to duty
You won’t want to miss these PANTHER presentations and posters next week in Kissimmee, FL at the Military Health System Research Symposium. Monday Talk: Aashutosh Kulakarni Prachet :: Modeling Shear Deformation in Brain Tissue During Blast Events Tuesday Poster: Jeneel Kachhadiya :: Helmet-Integrated Custom Liner for Head-Kinematic Monitoring and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Risk Detection …
Last week, ONR’s Chief of Naval Research, Dr. Rachel Riley released the 2026 Science and Technology Strategy. https://www.onr.navy.mil/media/document/office-naval-research-science-technology-strategy
Registration for the 2026 PANTHER & TBI Center Workshop is open now through August 21st.
Anthony Smith, is a former Navy fast boat operator and author of the Neurosurgery article 493 Occult Neurotrauma in Naval Special Warfare Combat Crewmen and Fast Boat Operators An article published by the DAV shares part of Smith’s personal background and motivation: The fight to expose hidden brain injuries that are killing veterans An excerpt …
Soccer is on the minds of sports fans worldwide as the drama of World Cup 2026 unfolds. Two recent articles look at soccer’s risks to brain health. The New York Times Athletic reviews FIFA’s World Cup concussion protocols. Critics say that allowing on-field concussion tests leads to sub-optimal medical diagnoses because when a player with …
The University of Wisconsin–Madison recognizes mentoring excellence in two PANTHER professors and one PostDoc. See the full College of Engineering post at this link. Awards for Post-Doctorate Mentoring and Service Honorable Mention Yasara Dharmadasa, Mechanical Engineering Notes Ramathasan Thevamaran, Bernard A. and Frances M. Weideman Associate Professor of mechanical engineering: “Yasara embodies the qualities of an …
Toward a Unified Lexicon in Traumatic Brain Injury: Defining the Mechanism of Injury This recent PANTHER publication in Neurotrauma Reports admonishes the use of precise and consistent wording to define the mechanism of injury at the cellular scale. The authors argue that primary and secondary injury should be defined as distinct biological cellular mechanisms.
Read Prof. Christian Franck’s latest Curious Kids article in The Conversation explaining why you should wear a helmet while skateboarding. Curious Kids articles are intended for kids of all ages. Why do you have to wear a helmet when you’re skateboarding?
Brain injury is not easy to understand or prevent and this is why research investigating the cause of mild traumatic brain injury and CTE is critically important. In this AFL-GameGear news story, the stakeholders include, the athletes and their loved ones, the AFL leaders, AFL standards committee, neuroscience experts and GameGear product developers. Do they …
If you’re attending the 20th U.S. National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics then keep and eye out for PANTHER researchers.
There’s a new paper out this week from Prof. Haneesh Kesari’s group at Brown University in Providence, RI. The paper proposes a new algorithm that can use the outputs of three tri-axial sensors and one gyroscope to track the head’s motion during an impact. This new algorithm allows all the sensors to be arranged in …
The New York Times article The Questionable Science Behind the Odd-Looking Football Helmets by Ken Bolson published Feb 3,2026 raises questions about Guardian Caps and highlights the need for a better understanding of concussion.