Dear Editor,

Brain injury research of the last century has focused primarily on male athletes and military service members. Only when women's sports gained prominence in the last decade did researchers begin to include female athletes in some studies. Most recently, researchers are examining the brains of women after violence inflicted by their partners.

Historically, the "symptoms" of women who experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) were largely considered to be the result of their psychological trauma. Brain injury was not considered as an impact of violence, and these women were diagnosed with mental health issues.

However, starting in the late 1990s, a small number of researchers began to connect the research on sports concussions to physical injuries from IPV. They began to raise the alarm that violence could cause traumatic brain injury (TBI) and recast psychologically based symptoms as possibly also reflective of repetitive brain injury from hits to the head and/or body. Emerging data indicates that the number of women estimated to have sustained a "partner-inflicted" brain injury is staggeringly high-higher than those sustained by National Football League players or individuals serving in the military.

While it seemed logical that TBI and domestic violence (DV)/IPV researchers would share their brain research findings with each other, both groups continued working independently, presenting and publishing in their own academic silos.

In late 2017, Drs Eve Valera, Katherine Iverson, and I met as presenters at the National Institutes of Health's 2-day event: Understanding Brain Injury in Women Workshop. Representing IPV, military, and TBI research, we realized it was essential to create a space for collaboration across all these fields to share knowledge, best practices, and innovations. PINK Concussions, a nonprofit, was an ideal host as its mission focused on brain injury in women and girls from sports, violence, accidents, and military service.

To this end, in early 2019, the PINK Concussions' Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury (PIBI) Task Force launched its first virtual meeting, led by myself, Dr Valera, Dr Iverson, Dr Angela Colantonio, Halina (Lin) Haag, and Rachel Ramirez, LCSW.

With world experts as well as graduate students, the PIBI Task Force has highlighted new research, created new collaborations, and strengthened connections. It has also provided a space for junior investigators to present their work and meet senior leaders in the field. In monthly meetings, over the last 2.5 years, the task force has grown to 314 members from 38 US states, 4 Canadian provinces, and 11 countries. Our current goals are to broaden leadership and membership to reflect the diversity of women who experience TBI.

Past PIBI presentations have included TBI and IPV research on the following:

* Women veterans (disproportionately more affected by IPV than non-Veteran women);

* International Reports on TBI and DV programs in Australia, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Scotland, Canada, and Colombia;

* The historical view of TBI and DV;

* Inspiring Empathy and Action in the Next Generation (preteen and teen presenters);

* Men's and women's prisons, including the unique needs of incarcerated mothers;

* The intersection with substance use;

* Strangulation;

* Screening tools;

* Informational websites and handouts;

* Equity, marginalization, and culture with the goal of empowering survivors;

* Black women's experience with TBI and IPV; and

* Transgender individuals.

This letter serves as a call for more professionals, practitioners, researchers, and students in the fields of brain injury and IPV to sign up to join the task force on http://PINKconcussions.org. Please help us to improve our understanding and the treatment of IPV-related brain injury.

Sincerely

Katherine Price Sloan Snedaker, LCSW

Founder and CEO

PINK Concussions

Norwalk, Connecticut