Robin Green

Research Synopsis

Dr. Robin Green's programs of research span basic to applied. Her team studies brain and behavioural mechanisms of recovery from moderate-severe traumatic brain injury. They have 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 progressive cognitive, mood and neural deterioration. Her lab has re-conceptualized moderate-severe traumatic brain injury as a progressive and possibly neurodegenerative disease process. This research has paved the way for identifying modifiable treatment targets to mitigate the observed accelerated aging. For example, they identified that elevated post-injury anxiety and reduced cognitive stimulation are risk factors for greater progressive hippocampal volume loss in the chronic stages of injury. A converging program of research concerns accelerated aging in people with a history of multiple concussions sustained in the context of contact sports (e.g., retired professional football players). 

Dr. Green is currently engaged in the development of targeted interventions including allocentric spatial navigation and slow-paced breathing. As well, Dr. Green founded and runs the KITE TeleNeuroRehab Centre for Acquired Brain Injury, which provides remotely delivered, group-based treatments to patients across Ontario who are in the chronic stages of neurological disorders. The Centre is integrated with research and clinical training. 

Dr. Green completed her PhD in neuropsychology at Cambridge University and postdoctoral fellowship at St Thomas’ Hospital, England.