According to a recent report (2022) from the World Health Organization (WHO) - ONE in THREE people will develop a neurological disorder - the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death - at some point in their life. Roughly nine million people die each year from neurological disorders, which include autoimmune neurological disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. The progression of these diseases is governed by the interplay between the resident glial cells (including astrocytes, microglial cells, and NG2-glia cells) and recruited peripheral immune cells (e.g., monocytes or T-cells). However, our understanding of the cellular landscape, molecular pathways, and metabolic networks that drive these neurological disorders is lacking, which hinders our ability to treat them.
Our research comprises basic and translational programs focused on investigating the driving forces of neurologic disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis, Glioblastoma and Other Primary Brain Cancers, and Parkinson’s disease.
Current projects in the lab include:
- Investigating the role of the glial cells in brain malignancies, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.
- Characterization of the immune-metabolic cross-talk that drives neurological disorders
- Developing gene and cell-based therapies to treat neuropathologies.
Approach and Techniques
We take a transdisciplinary approach in our research endeavors using immunologic, genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic approaches to study neuroinflammation.
Our research combines state-of-the-art technologies such as genome-wide sequencing, genomic editing, in-vivo imaging, targeted and un-targeted spatially-resolved mass-spectrometry, in-situ molecular imaging, real-time metabolic analysis, and bioinformatic analysis.