Teaching Activities

Lecturer: Pathophysiology lectures on Stress, Opioid Use and Addiction, Disorders of the Brain, and Disorders of the Spinal Cord

Lecturer: Integrated Systems in Biomedical Sciences lectures on Basic Principles of Homeostasis, Neural Injury and Neurodegeneration, and Neural Regeneration and Repair

Course Co-Director: Perspectives in Alcohol Research (PHYSIO 289)

Publications

• Vita, S.M.; Dulin, J.N. In Memoriam: Ray Grill (1966-2018). Neural Regen Res 2018; 13: 1488.
• Maynard, M.E.; Redell, J.B.; Zhao, J.; Hood, K.N.; Vita, S.M.; Kobori, N.; Dash, P.K. Sarm1 loss reduces axonal damage and improves cognitive outcome after repetitive mild closed head injury. Experimental Neurology, 327, 113207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2020.113207
• Redell, J. B., Maynard, M. E., Underwood, E. L., Vita, S. M., Dash, P. K., & Kobori, N. (2020). Traumatic brain injury and hippocampal neurogenesis: Functional implications. Experimental Neurology, 331, 113372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2020.113372
• Vita SM, Grayson BE, Grill RJ. Acute damage to the blood-brain barrier and perineuronal net integrity in a clinically-relevant of rat model traumatic brain. NeuroReport. 2020;31: 1167–1174. doi:10.1097/WNR.0000000000001531
• Vita SM, Redell JB, Maynard ME, Zhao J, Grill RJ, Dash PK, & Grayson, BE. P-glycoprotein Expression Is Upregulated in a Pre-Clinical Model of Traumatic Brain Injury. Neurotrauma Rep. 2020;1: 207–217. doi:10.1089/neur.2020.0034
• Vita, S.M., Cruise, S.C., Gilpin, N.W., & Molina, P.E. Histological comparison of repeated mild weight drop and lateral fluid percussion injury models of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in female and male rats. Accepted to the Journal of Shock, Inflammation, and Sepsis: Laboratory and Clinical Approaches, May 23, 2024. PMID: 38813916 doi:10.1097/SHK.0000000000002395
• Smith, A.M., Ray, T.J., Hulitt, A.A., Vita, S.M., Warrington, J.P., Dos Santos E Santos, C. & Grayson, B.E. High-fat diet consumption negatively influences closed-head traumatic brain injury in a pediatric rodent model. Exp Neurol. 2024 Jul 14:379:114888. doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2024.114888

Book Chapters:

• Vita, S.M., Smith, AM, Ray, TJ & Grayson, BE. Chapter 11 - Blood–brain barrier damage following mild traumatic brain injury. in Handbook of Animal Models in Neurological Disorders (eds. Martin, C. R., Patel, V. B. & Preedy, V. R.) 133–144 (Academic Press, 2023). doi:10.1016/B978-0-323-89833-1.00041-0.

PubMed

Research Interests

My research focuses on the combined effects of repeated mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI) and intermittent alcohol exposure during adolescence on brain pathology and behavior throughout the life cycle. Adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability to the damaging effects of both TBI and alcohol, it is also a period during which a person is at high risk for incurring TBIs and participating in binge alcohol consumption.

Current topics of study include:

• Effects of adolescent rmTBI and alcohol on blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity. One shared target of TBI and alcohol consumption is the BBB, an intricately linked cellular and molecular structure that maintains homeostasis in the microenvironment of the brain by regulating access of blood-borne substances into the parenchyma. The overlap in these mechanisms suggests the resulting damage from each insult may be compounded when the insults are combined. As alterations to BBB structure and function have enduring consequences for brain health, we are investigating whether these insults will cause an exacerbation of these effects.
   
• Effects of adolescent rmTBI and alcohol on the development of dementia. A history of rmTBI is believed to be the primary factor in the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease associated with dementia. Dementias have also been linked to a prior pattern of alcohol misuse.

Curriculum Vitae

Vita Lab