Robin Green

Dr. Robin Green is the Saunderson Chair in Acquired Brain Injury at the KITE Research Institute, ranked number one rehabilitation research facility in the world, located at Canada’s first-ranked hospital for research, the University Health Network (UHN). She is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto (UofT), and a scientific lead of the Schroeder Institute for Brain Innovation and Recovery, and of the Canadian Concussion Centre. Dr. Green completed her PhD in neuropsychology at Cambridge University and post-doctoral fellowship at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, England.

Dr. Green’s research ranges from basic neuroscience to translational applications. Her primary focus revolves around understanding the brain's mechanisms of recovery following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and identifying modifiable treatment targets crucial for advancing treatment methodologies. Her lab has challenged conventional perceptions of brain injury, reframing moderate-severe TBI as a progressive – rather than static – neurodegenerative disorder, a paradigm shift reflected in her influential Frontiers in Human Neuroscience special issue titled “Traumatic Brain Injury as a Neurodegenerative Disorder?”, and paving the way for novel intervention avenues. Dr. Green established and oversees the TeleNeurorehab Centre for Acquired Brain Injury @KITE (formerly the Telerehab Centre for ABI) to study and exclusively treat chronic acquired brain injuries, an integration of research, clinical care and training—the only centre of its kind. Funded through grants and donors and in its fifth year, the Centre has delivered more than 10,000 cognitive and mental health visits across the province of Ontario, free of charge.

Supporting the global Project ECHO initiative, a virtual learning community for primary care providers, Dr. Green co-founded and co-leads ECHO Concussion for clinicians throughout Ontario. International initiatives include co-founding and co-chairing the International Mentorship Program through the International Neuropsychological Society, and serving as Canadian lead for an Australian Research Council-funded international program on healthy aging. Dr. Green's scientific contributions and mentorship efforts have been recognized through awards and distinctions, most recently including the Dr. Jane Gillett Research Award, Brain Injury Canada; the Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neurorehabilitation Sciences; Member at Large, Board of Governors, International Neuropsychological Society; Education Excellence Award, UHN; and the Dr. Dina Brooks Award for Sustained Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision and Mentorship, UofT.

Research Synopsis

Dr. Robin Green's program of research addresses brain and behavioural mechanisms of recovery from moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her lab has shown that in addition to beneficial mechanisms that support recovery, there are deleterious mechanisms in the sub-acute and chronic stages of injury giving rise to cognitive, mood and neural deterioration. Her lab has re-conceptualized TBI as a chronic and possibly neurodegenerative disease process; this novel conception is needed in order to identify parallels with other forms of neurodegeneration, which will offer new avenues of treatment. The lab has also focused on identifying modifiable (“post-injury”) factors that contribute to degeneration, focusing on the hippocampi in particular. They have identified that elevated anxiety and reduced cognitive stimulation are both associated with hippocampal volume loss. A converging program of research concerns progressive degeneration and accelerated aging in the later stages of multiple concussions, for example sustained in the context of professional contact sports such as football. 

Dr. Green is currently engaged in the development of interventions to mitigate the accelerated aging that is observed in the later stages of TBI by targeting modifiable mechanisms. The treatments are delivered remotely, in order to achieve reach (e.g., into Northern Ontario and across provinces) and to achieve scale. Treatments are both delivered by therapists, in group format online or are self-administered. These treatments are currently being considered for other populations at risk of accelerated aging. 

Recently, Dr. Green has started up a centre for remote delivery of clinical care through participation in research. The centre focuses on patients with enduring effects of brain injury, and will expand to other neurological populations in the future.
 

Recent Publications

1. Green, R.E.A., Monette, G., Rybkina, J., Dabek, M., Changoor, A., Colella, B. (2023). Moderate-Severe TBI as a Progressive Disorder: Patterns and Predictors of Cognitive Declines in the Chronic Stages of Injury. Journal of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. Dec; 37 (11-12): 799-809. PMID: 37990972.

2. Vasilevskaya, A., Martinez-Valbuena, I., Anastassiadis, C., Taghdiri, F., Khodadadi, M., Tarazi, A., Green, R., Colella, B., Wennberg, R., Mikulis, D., Davis, K.D., Kovacs, G., Tator, C., Tartaglia, M.C. (2023). Misfolded alpha-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid of contact sport athletes. Movement Disorders. Oct 4;  Online ahead of print. PMID: 37792643.

3. So, I., Meusel, L., Sharma, B., Colella, B., Poublanc, J., Wheeler, A., Rabin, J., Mikulis, D.R., Green, R. (2023). Longitudinal patterns of functional connectivity in moderate-severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma. Jan 17; Online ahead of print. PMID: 36367163. ​

4. Meusel, L., Colella, B., Tartaglia, M., Green, R. (2023). Preliminary efficacy and predictors of response to a symptom self-management program for individuals with persistent symptoms after concussion. Brain Injury. July 15; 1-8. PMID: 37452884​​​

5. Heath, L., Kidwai, M. R., Colella, B., Monette, G., Tselichtchev, P., Tomaszczyk, J., Green, R. (2023). Predictors and functional outcomes associated with longitudinal trajectories of anxiety and depression from 2 to 36+ months after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma. Mar 16; Online ahead of print. PMID: 36927109.​

6. Jacob, N., So, I., Sharma, B., Marzolini, S., Tartaglia, C., Oh, P., Green, R. (2023). Effects of high-intensity interval training protocols on blood lactate levels and cognition in healthy adults: Systematic review and meta-regression. Sports Medicine. Mar 14; Online ahead of print. PMID: 36917435.

7. Boulos, M.E., Colella, B., Meusel, L.A., Sharma, B., Dabek, M., Worthington, T., Green, R.E.A. (2023). Feasibility of group telerehabilitation for individuals with chronic acquired brain injury: Integrating clinical care and research. Disability and Rehabilitation. Feb 28; Online ahead of print. PMID: 36855274. ​

8. Jeffay, E., Ponsford, J., Harnett, A., Janzen, S., Patsakos, E., Douglas, J., Kennedy, M., Kua, A., Teasell, B., Welch-West, P., Bayley, M., Green, R. (2023). INCOG 2.0 Updated Guidelines for Management of Cognition Following TBI Part III: Executive Function. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. Jan-Feb; 38(1):52-64. PMID: 36594859. ​

9. ​How, T. V., Green, R. E. A., & Mihailidis, A. (2023). Towards PPG-based anger detection for emotion regulation. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. Aug 15; Online ahead of print. PMID: 37582733.

10. Rozenberg, D., Shore, J., Camacho-Perez, E., Nourouzpour, S., Ibrahim-Masthan, M., Santa-Mina, D., Campos, J. L., Huszti, E., Green, R., Khan, M. H., Lau, A., Gold, D., Stanbrook, M. B., Reid, W. D. (2023). Feasibility of a Home-Based Cognitive-Physical Exercise Program in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Protocol for a Feasibility and Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Research Protocols. Jul 12; 12:e48666. PMID: 37436794.

Honours & Awards

• Jan 2020 - Dec 2024 | Saunderson Chair in Acquired Brain Injury Research, Saunderson Family- Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Canada
• Jan 2019 - Dec 2022 | Member-at-Large, Board of Governors - International Neuropsychological Association
• May 2022 | Interprofessional Education Team Award, Team ECHO-UHN-Toronto Rehab - Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network
• May 2020 | Dr. Dina Brooks Continuing/Sustained Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision & Mentorship award - University of Toronto
• Oct 2018 | Dr. Jane Gillett Research Award-  Brain Injury Canada