SUMMARY
Dmitry Esterov, D.O., is the medical director of Mayo Clinic's Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, a longitudinal multicenter initiative examining patients' courses of recovery and outcomes after traumatic brain injury. The system's research contributes to evidence-based rehabilitation interventions to improve the lives of people with traumatic brain injuries.
Dr. Esterov's research interests include population-based epidemiology of brain injuries. This involves understanding long-term outcomes after traumatic brain injury, including the development of post-traumatic epilepsy, psychiatric disorders, neurodegenerative disorders and stroke. He seeks to understand both the risk factors and protective factors that can influence cognitive and psychiatric recovery after brain injury.
Focus areas
- Community-based, randomized, pragmatic clinical trials. Dr. Esterov is a co-investigator on a Traumatic Brain Injury Model System study testing a model of care that improves access to care by providing brain rehabilitation resources remotely. It includes patients in underserved areas of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota.
- Epidemiology of traumatic brain injury. Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, Dr. Esterov is researching the risk of certain long-term conditions after traumatic brain injury, including post-traumatic epilepsy, as well as the long-term risk of psychiatric conditions in adults who had traumatic brain injuries as children.
- Deep learning to predict outcomes after traumatic brain injury. Dr. Esterov uses CT and electroencephalography data and deep learning models to predict functional outcome and development of secondary conditions such as post-traumatic epilepsy after traumatic brain injury.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Esterov's team seeks to improve patient outcomes by partnering with state advocacy agencies and incorporating telemedicine to implement successful research findings immediately into clinical practice.
Traumatic brain injuries affect each person uniquely, and outcomes are influenced by many factors, including injury severity. Outcome prediction after injury is important because accurate prediction can direct treatment efforts, determine prognosis and shape policy.
Understanding the risk factors for secondary conditions after traumatic brain injury — such as epilepsy, depression and cognitive impairment — can help researchers find strategies to lower the risk of these conditions.
Professional highlights
- Co-investigator, Post-Traumatic Epilepsy: A Longitudinal, Population-Based Medical Record Review Analysis of Incidence, Risk and Prediction, U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 2021-2025
- Program Director/Principal Investigator, The Impact of Adverse Childhood Events on Long Term Psychiatric Outcomes After Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury, Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2021-2022
- Program Director/Principal Investigator, Predicting Outcome After Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Using a CT Head Deep Learning Model, Mayo Clinic, 2021-2023