Brief Biography:
My laboratory in interested in studying the activation of the blood brain barrier (BBB) and how this can relate to neurological dysfunction. This is very evident is a situation like cerebral malaria, where the intra-erythrocytic and intravascular pathogen is able to confer coma, seizures and subsequent neurologic sequelae. As the BBB-endothelium is at the interface of the vascular and neurologic events, I hypothesized that BBB activation can lead to neurological dysfunction. I am interested in dissecting its underlying molecular mechanisms.
Therefore, one part of my research efforts focus on the responses of the BBB endothelium to Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes. Another part of my research studies the effect of alcohol on the BBB. Alcohol appears to reduce inflammatory responses induced by other stimuli, such as LPS but alls may reduce the basal levels of BBB secretions that are involved in communication with the underlying neuropil (astroglia and neurons). BBB-activation is observed in a myriad of neurological disease conditions including alcohol abuse some depression disorders, Alzheimers Disease stroke and also in kidney dysfunction.
My laboratory is fully equipped to do BBB activation studies and monitor barrier dysfunction both in vitro and in-vivo in murine models for endothelial inflammation. I have highly sophisticated instrumentation, including electrical cell impedance sensing (ECIS) (Applied Biophysics) and a Cellszcope (Biometrology) to monitor barrier changes during the proposed activation experiments.
Academic positions:
3/90 – 8/92 Postdoctoral fellow Dept Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY
10/92 – 1999 Postdoctoral fellow Pediatric Infect. Dis. Children’s Hospital LA, Los Angeles, CA.
1999 – 10/00 Research Associate Pediatric Infect. Dis. Children’s Hospital LA, Los Angeles, CA.
10/00 - 3/01 Research Associate Pediatric Infect. Dis. Johns Hopkins S.O.M., Baltimore, MD. 3/01 – 7/07 Assistant Professor Pediatric Infect. Dis. Johns Hopkins S.O.M., Baltimore, MD.
10/07 – present Research Scientist Nerveda Inc., San Diego CA.
10/07 – 06/08 Visiting Scientist Dept. Neurology Johns Hopkins S.O.M. Baltimore MD.
07/08–present Assistant Professor NeuroImmunology, Neurology Johns Hopkins S.O.M. Baltimore MD.
Research interests:
blood brain barrier endothelium relation to neurological dysfunction
What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:
very good idea
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