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 other neurological populations.

Accepting: MSc, PhD, Postdoc

Recent Publications

• 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.
• 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.
• 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. ​
• 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​​​
• 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.​
• 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.
• 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. ​
• 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. ​
• ​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.
• 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.
• Dobrowolski, C., Barraclough, M., Su, J., Tanic, M., Bingham, K., Ruttan, L., Beaton, D., Wither, J., Tartaglia, M. C., Sano, M., Kakvan, M., Bonilla, D., Green, R., Touma, Z. (2023). Centrally acting ACE inhibitor (cACEi) and angiotensin receptor blocker (cARB) use and cognitive dysfunction in patients with SLE. Lupus Science & Medicine. Jul; 10(2): e000923. PMID: 37429671.
• Dobrowolski, C., McGinley, J., Fazzari, M., Su, J., Bingham, K., Anderson, N., Ruttan, L., Beaton, D., Wither, J., Tartaglia, M. C., Kakvan, M., Bonilla, D., Choi, M., Fritzler, M., Diaz-Martinez, J. P., Katz, P., Green, R., Putterman, C., Touma, Z. (2023). Association of Mycophenolate and Azathioprine use with cognitive function in Systemic Lupus. Rheumatology. May 2; 62(5):1860-1869. PMID: 36135792. 
• Barraclough, M.L., Diaz-Martinez, J.P., Knight, A., Bingham, K., Su, J., Kakvan, M., Grajales, C.M., Tartaglia, M.C., Ruttan, L., Wither, J., Choi, M.Y., Bonilla, D., Anderson, N., Appenzeller, S., Parker, B., Katz, P., Beaton, D., Green, R., Bruce, I.N., Touma, Z. (2023). In-person versus virtual administration of the American College of Rheumatology gold standard cognitive battery in systemic lupus erythematosus: Are they interchangeable? Lupus. Apr 10; 32(6): 737-745. PMID: 37036020.​
• Tayer-Shifman, O. E., Yuen, K., Green, R., Kakvan, M., Katz, P., Bingham, K. S., Diaz-Martinez, J. P., Ruttan, L., Wither, J. E., Tartaglia, M. C., Su, J., Bonilla, D., Choi, M. Y., Appenzeller, S., Barraclough, M., Beaton, D. E., & Touma, Z. (2023). Assessing the Utility of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in Screening for Cognitive Impairment in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Arthritis care & research, Mar; 75(3): 569–577. PMID: 35724303​
• Gumus, M., Mack, M., Green, R., Khodadadi, M., Wennberg, R., Crawley, A., Colella, B., Tarazi, A., Mikulis, D., Tator, C., Tartaglia, M.C. (2022). Brain connectivity changes in Postconcussion Syndrome as the neural substrate of a heterogeneous syndrome. Brain Connectivity. Oct 12; 12(8):711-724. PMID: 35018791. 
• ​Mazaharally, M., Stojanovski, S., Trossman, R., Szulc-Lerch, K., Chakravarty, M. M., Colella, B., Glazer, J., E Green, R., & Wheeler, A. L. (2022). Patterns of change in cortical morphometry following traumatic brain injury in adults. Human brain mapping,  Apr 15; 43(6): 1882-1894. PMID: 34953011.
• ​Sihag, S., Naze, S., Taghdiri, F., Gumus, M., Tator, C., Green, R., Colella, B., Blennow, K., Zetterberg, H., Dominguez, L.G., Wennberg, R., Mikulis, D.J., Tartaglia, M.C., Kozloski, J. R. (2022). Functional brain activity constrained by structural connectivity reveals cohort-specific features for serum neurofilament light chain. Communications Medicine. Jan 17; 2(1), 8. PMID: 35603281.​
• Vasilevskaya, A., Taghdiri, F., Multani, N., Ozzoude, M., Tarazi, A., Khodadadi, M., Wennberg, R., Rusjan, P., Houle, S., Green, R., Colella, B., Blennow, K., Zetterberg, H., Karikari, T., Mikulis, D., Hazrati, L., Kovacs, G. G., Davis, K. D., Tator, C., Tartaglia, M. C. (2022). Investigating the use of plasma pTau181 in retired contact sports athletes. Journal of Neurology. Oct; 269(10): 5582-95. PMID: 35751688. ​
• Cairncross, M., Gindwani, H., Egbert, A. R., Torres, I., Hutchison, J., Dams-O'Connor, K., Panenka, W., Brubacher, J., Meddings, L., Kwan, L., Yeates, K. O., Green, R., Barlow, K., Esser, M., Winston, B., Wellington, C., Walley, K., Carrion, P., Doan, Q., Stukas, S., Vercauteren, S., Murthy, S., Aquino, A., Lorelei, A., Clarke, D., Davis, A., Colantonio, A., Wheeler, A., Guerguerian, A., Gilfoyle, E., Hazrati, L., Scratch, S. E., Sinopoli, K., Wilson, E., Khosroawshahi, A., Granofsky, G., Fernandes, L., Farrell, C., Lacroix, J., French, M., Poirier , J., Silverberg, N. D. (2022). Criterion validity of the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT) for mild traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury. Sept; 39(10-11);1228-36. PMID: 36099151. 

For a list of Dr. Green's publications, please visit ORCID, Scopus or PubMed.

Appointments

Saunderson Family Chair in Brain Injury

Honours and Awards

• 2022/05                        Interprofessional Education Team Award, Team ECHO-UHN-Toronto Rehab, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network
• 2020/05                        2020 Dr. Dina Brooks Continuing/Sustained Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision & Mentorship award, University of Toronto
• 2020/01 - 2024/12   Saunderson Chair in Acquired Brain Injury Research, Saunderson Family, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Canada
• 2020/04                        Nomination, 2020-21 Rehabilitation Sciences Institute Graduate Teaching Award for Sustained Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision and Mentorship, University of Toronto
• 2019/04                        Nomination, Henry Durost Award for Excellence in Creative Professional Activity, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
• 2019/04                        Nomination, 2019-20 Rehabilitation Sciences Institute Graduate Teaching Award for Sustained Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision and Mentorship, University of Toronto
• 2019/01 - 2022/12   Member-at-Large, Board of Governors, International Neuropsychological Association
• 2018/10                        2018 Dr. Jane Gillett Research Award, Brain Injury Canada
• 2018/07                        Nomination, 2018 William Fields Caveness Award, The Brain Injury Association of America
• 2009/08 - 2020/07   Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Traumatic Brain Injury-Cognitive Rehabilitation Neuroscience, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada

Grants

2024/03 - 2025/02                   PI: “Remotely delivered, Education and Strategies intervention for improving coping and symptom self-management in individuals with PCC.” 2023 Long COVID Web Seed Funding. $25,000 CAD.

 2021/07 - 2022/06                   Co-PI: “An intervention to teach self-management skills for persisting symptoms of COVID-19: Minimizing impact of symptoms on everyday functioning and on healthcare usage/utilization - A randomized controlled trial”. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Operating Grant: Emerging COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities Funding Opportunity. $330,562 CAD

·       2021/07 - 2022/06                   Co-PI: “Developing a low-cost, remotely deliverable education intervention to mitigate the impact of long-COVID symptoms”. Cass Family Grants for Catalyzing Access and Change. $5,000 CAD.

·       2021/01 - 2024/12                   Co-Chief Investigator and Canadian Lead. “Physical musicality: Optimising lived experience among older adults”. Australian Research Council (ARC), Discovery Projects. $416,369 AUD. PI: William F. Thompson.

·       2020/09 – present                  Co-PI: “ECHO Concussion - UHN”. Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). $111,264 CAD, annual.

·       2020/06 - 2020/11                   Co-PI: “Approaches to support mental health of diverse patients on wait lists for procedures delayed by COVID-19”. CIHR Knowledge Synthesis: COVID-19 in Mental Health and Substance Use. $49,980 CAD.

·       2020/01 - 2024/12                   Co-I: “Canadian Concussion Network”. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Catalyst Grant. $1,500,000 CAD. PI: Keith Yeates.

·       2020/01 - 2024/12                   PI: “Saunderson Family Chair in Acquired Brain Injury Research”. Saunderson Family. $375,000 CAD.

·       2019/06 - 2021/02                   Co-PI: “Spatial navigation intervention for individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis”. Branch Out Neurological Foundation, Multiple Sclerosis NeuroCAM Seed Grant. $48,270 CAD. * (N.b., only one award is allocated per competition) 

·       2018/08 - 2020/03                 Co-PI: “Scalable training and web-based application package for offsetting hippocampal neurodegeneration using Google Streetview”. Centre for Aging & Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), Researcher-Clinician Partnership Program (RCP2). $372,000 CAD.

·       2018/04 - 2019/04                   Co-PI: “Offsetting hippocampal degeneration in moderate-severe traumatic brain injury”. Canadian Traumatic Brain Injury Research Consortium (CTRC), Project Grant. $41,083 CAD.

·       2018/01 - 2021/01                   Co-PI: “Development of a remotely delivered learning and memory intervention and province-wide delivery infrastructure”. Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation. $197,755 CAD.

·       2017/4 - 2022/3                        PI: “Understanding and improving hippocampal neuroplasticity through allocentric spatial navigation training”. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Discovery grant. $125,000 CAD