Monica Carson, a professor of biomedical sciences, and Dr. Devin Binder, an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside, will discuss concussions and traumatic brain injuries in children and adults at a public forum on Saturday, March 24, 2018.

The free event will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Riverside Convention Center, located at 3637 Fifth St. Registration for the event is online.

The event, which includes a Q&A, is open to family members, caregivers, advocates, researchers, and anyone interested in learning more about traumatic brain injury.

Concussion, which is often called “mild traumatic brain injury” in some medical specialties, involves a direct blow to the head, face, neck, or elsewhere on the body, in which force is transmitted to the brain.

Approximately 300,000 high school athletes suffer concussions every year, with football leading to the most cases. Soccer and basketball produce the highest concussion rates among high school female athletes in the country.

“Millions of Americans, young and old, suffer brain injuries every year. At this public forum during National Brain Injury Awareness Month, we will discuss the latest findings in the field of traumatic brain injury,” said Carson, chair of the Division of Biomedical Sciences and director of the Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions at the UCR School of Medicine.

Carson and Binder will be joined on the panel by Andre Obenaus, a professor of pediatrics at UC Irvine.

The event is hosted by the American Society for Neurochemistry, sponsored by the UCR School of Medicine, and funded in part by a grant from the Hoag Foundation.