Traumatic brain injury (TBI) afflicts almost 500 000 people per year in the USA. It has been estimated that TBI results in over 75 000 deaths each year and over 300 000 hospitalizations1. TBI is the leading cause of death in young males under the age of 35, mostly inflicted by automobile accidents and violence. Unfortunately, current clinical treatments do little to repair or prevent the secondary damage caused by the cytotoxic events accompanying brain injury. One report noted that the five most frequently used treatments: mannitol, barbiturates, corticosteroids, hyperventilation and CSF drainage, do not appear to reduce morbidity or mortality when studies were appropriately designed to test efficacy and safety of these procedures2. More recently, a controlled clinical trial examining the use of hypothermia to treat TBI revealed that this procedure is also ineffective3. Currently, then, the prognosis for brain repair after injury is rather grim, and in spite of growing interest in testing new pharmacological therapies, most are still in pre-clinical development.