CONCUSSION: ANSWERS IN THE BLOOD? tells the intertwined story of the promising research undertaken by two University of Montana scientists - Drs. Tom Rau and Sarj Patel - and the real experiences of two athletes: Payton Agnew, a university women's soccer player, and Bridger Skillicorn, a member of a high school football team recovering from concussions. Concussion awareness is on the rise and current diagnostic protocols are improving, however, concussion identification still relies heavily on observed symptoms and self-reporting by athletes. Now, a team of scientists is attempting to develop a blood test to provide a definitive determination. Drs. Tom Rau and Sarg Patel, from the University of Montana's Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy, are in the early stages of promising research to discover biomarkers in the blood that indicate how the brain reacts following a traumatic brain injury. The one-hour documentary tracks a year of Rau and Patel's research and findings, and the quest for funding to continue their work, while also following the athletes and trainers as they navigate the current concussion protocol.
