HSR Investigator Receives National Award for TBI Research

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August 26, 2025

Mary Jo Pugh, PhD, EdM , a Research Career Scientist with HSR's Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center (IDEAS 2.0), received the Military Health System 's 2025 Outstanding Research Accomplishment award for uncovering long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The award recognizes individual investigators who have recently made outstanding contributions to medical research via work funded by the Department of Defense. Dr. Pugh is one of only two investigators nationwide to receive this honor in 2025.

Dr. Pugh pioneered methods of integrating health data from VA and the Department of Defense, analyzing details such as injury characteristics and blast exposure. This comprehensive approach allowed her to identify strong associations between TBI and significant long-term health risks, such as dementia, substance use disorder, and suicide. Her work also uncovered previously unknown TBI links to cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Additionally, Dr. Pugh's leadership of the Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium (LIMBIC-CENC) Phenotype study has helped identify distinct TBI profiles to better predict and treat their associated outcomes.

Ultimately, Dr. Pugh's findings pave the way for new clinical practices and interventions that protect the long-term health and well-being of Veterans.