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NEUROINFLAMMATION

Relatively permanent changes to the nervous system occur in response to environmental conditions imposed upon an organism, including stimulus characteristics, behavioral processes, or neural insult. I am interested in the response of the central nervous system to insult, specifically traumatic brain injury or stroke. These types of injury are two of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, for which there are few effective treatments.

One of the major consequences of neural insult is neuroinflammation. This cascade can be both beneficial and detrimental, and there is much to be learned about the dynamics of this complicated response. It is characterized by increases in pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines, leukocyte invasion, blood-brain barrier permeability, and glial activation. Astrocytes and microglia are glial cells that are activated following injury and have been shown to regulate the immune response. I am interested in elucidating the multicellular neuroinflammatory response in hopes of developing therapeutic treatments for central nervous system damage.