Resident’s research focuses on TBIs among veterans

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Military veterans return home as heroes. But some come back with injuries that cause lifelong physical and mental anguish.

Westerville resident Rachel Chase was not in the military. But she served her country by completing a Ph.D. study that continues to help veterans and their families suffering the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

“I always liked the idea of applying my love of mathematics to the health field, and I wanted to see my work do something,” says Chase.

Chase’s involvement with military veterans began when she was an undergrad at Miami University. She attended college with her brother, Nate, even though he is five years older than her.

“He left school to join the military and served as a medic for four years, including time during the Iraq War,” says Chase. “After his discharge, his process of coming back and transitioning to academic life was difficult. So we talked to the provost and just wanted to bring attention to the different needs of veterans.”

Several years after both had graduated, they received a letter from the mother of a veteran, thanking them for making the school more adaptable to veterans. At the time, Rachel felt this was the end of any work with military veterans.

After graduating from Miami in 2008 with a degree in mathematics and a minor in East Asian studies, Chase taught in China for a year. Upon returning to the United States, she entered the doctoral program at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md. She planned to complete a dissertation on eating disorders in China and return to the country as a public health researcher.

But everything changed during a day trip to Pittsburgh with Nate in December 2011. The pair had dinner with Doug Scott, who served with Nate in the same medic unit. Knowing Chase was studying public health, Scott eventually began talking about TBIs and asked if she would be interested in researching the topic.

“After talking with Scott, I didn’t know if I would find past research on TBIs among recent veterans,” says Chase. “I thought it might be a case where he knew some people with bad experiences and nothing more could be done. But this was something I certainly wanted to do if there was a reason.”

Within a week, she decided to change her dissertation from eating disorders in China to the study of TBIs in the military.

“It was difficult to stop my original dissertation because I knew I was onto something,” says Chase. “But I later learned that the research was completed. I’m grateful it was completed, while I got to do my dream research.”

But Chase had some difficulties in researching her new topic.

“I doubted myself at first because I didn’t see anything in my research that Doug had told me,” says Chase. “Literature from the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration said veterans complaining of persistent post-concussive symptoms were likely malingering, the symptoms of mild TBIs dissipated within three months and a TBI diagnosis should be avoided because it would encourage more malingering behaviors. But throughout my research, there was an increasing attention to TBIs and the number of examples in medical literature. I was grateful to see other researchers work from different angles.”

One person who greatly helped her research efforts was Dr. Remington Nevin, a consulting physician specializing in public health and preventive medicine and a former U.S. Army major and preventive medicine officer.

“Meeting him was a turning point in my research, and he was the key to having solid numerical data,” says Chase. “A friend told me I had to meet him, and once we started talking, it was obvious are interests intersected. He was able to get me the data I was looking for.”

While Nevin helped provide the numbers and statistics, Chase conducted 38 interviews with veterans and their families to understand the personal stories of those affected by TBIs.

”It was very emotional and not easy for anyone to talk, but it was an honor to do each interview” says Chase. “They were willing to talk about some pretty painful stuff for the sake of helping others. I was so proud to give a voice to people who were not usually included in these kinds of studies. Using their words was important to me because it made the research more meaningful and moving.”

Chase defended her dissertation, “You Don’t Have Anything to Give but Your Word and a Faulty Memory,” on Nov. 5, 2014. The title was a quote from one of the veterans she interviewed.

“There was a lot of passion in my research,” says Chase. “I felt very close to each story and wanted to be a part of making life better for those affected because they have been trying so long to find answers.”

Last year, Chase shared one of her two articles that came from her interviews with veterans and their families. The response was overwhelmingly positive.

But instead of sitting on a shelf or in a digital archive, Chase wants to ensure her research continues to make difference for veterans affected by TBIs as well as their families and caretakers.

“I want people to see my work, and if it relates to their experiences, then they’ll know they’re not alone,” says Chase. “I know my research has already affected some individuals, and that makes me feel amazing.”

For Chase, her research was more than just the completion of her Ph.D. It was a life-changing experience.

“It means so much to me that I’ve made a difference in at least a few lives and how there may be more people affected who I’ll never meet,” says Chase. “Just knowing veterans are not alone or crazy is a big deal to me. If that’s all my research accomplishes, then I would be perfectly content.” 

Westerville resident Chris Woodley is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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