UF neurosurgery resident serves in key role for new research grant

A University of Florida College of Medicine neurosurgery resident is serving as a key investigator for a new one-year research grant. Such a role is rare for a physician in training.

Paul Tolentino, M.D., Ph.D., a fifth-year resident, will serve as the co-principal investigator for a $136,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study the function of an enzyme, called transglutaminase, that triggers the combining of proteins in response to traumatic brain injury.

Tolentino will work with principal investigator Ronald L. Hayes, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience who directs the Center for Traumatic Brain Injury Studies at the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of UF.

UF’s seven-year neurosurgery residency program requires one year of research. The work Tolentino completed during his research rotation helped the team to successfully obtain this grant, which will enable them to move into the next phase of investigation.

Studies have shown that people who experience traumatic brain injury are at a higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. During Tolentino’s research rotation, he successfully pursued studies that led to an application that examines the activation of chemicals in the brain that may contribute to deteriorating brain function following injury, and also may be related to the higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease after brain injury.

It is hoped that the team’s further investigation of transglutaminase activity will lead to a potential common mechanism underlying behavior deficits in victims of traumatic brain injury and in Alzheimer’s patients.