Seminar in Neuroscience - 4/4/12

Speaker: Eng Lo, PhD
Professor
Harvard University
Department of Radiology
Massachusetts General Hospital
http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dms/neuroscience/fac/lo.php 

Host: Jason Huber, PhD
jhuber@hsc.wvu.edu 

Seminar: 12:00 PM
Location: 301 BMRC (3rd floor conference room outside the Center for Neuroscience offices)


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Over the past decade, numerous advances in neuroimaging have allowed us to probe the pathophysiology of brain injury after stroke.  However, in spite of these powerful in vivo techniques for "looking at stroke", we still lack clinically effective neuroprotective therapies. In this presentation, I will discuss the translational challenges involved in bridging promising experimental leads into clinically meaningful applications. Specifically, I will address the following three questions: (1) Is it possible that beyond saving neurons (i.e. neuroprotection per se), we need to consider restoring cell-cell interactions between multiple brain cell types (i.e. the neurovascular unit)? (2) Is it possible that many of the neurovascular mechanisms and targets underlying stroke are biphasic in nature, i.e. deleterious in the acute stage but beneficial during recovery?  (3) Finally, in addition to cell and animal models, is it possible to develop "human models" that may help us link experimental platforms to the stroke patient?