Neurotrauma and Brain Barriers Research Laboratory

History

The Neurotrauma and Brain Barriers Research Laboratory was established in 2008 at the Department of Emergency Medicine and is directed by Dr. Adam Chodobski. Our laboratory is located on the Rhode Island Hospital Campus in Coro West, Suite 112. Our research focuses on dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier resulting from neurotrauma, post-traumatic brain edema, and neuroinflammation.

Investigators and Collaborators

Adam Chodobski, PhD

Dr. Chodobski is a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and is a trainer in the Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology Graduate Program at Brown University. Native of Poland, he received his master's degree in biomedical engineering from the Technical University in Warsaw and a PhD in neuroscience from Medical School of Warsaw. He spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine in Melbourne, Australia. He was also a recipient of the Wellcome Trust grant to conduct research in the Department of Physiology at St Thomas's Hospital in London, UK. Dr. Chodobski joined the faculty at Alpert Medical School in 1995. He is a member of several professional societies and served as a reviewer at various study sections at the NIH. He has edited a book on the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. His research is supported by NIH. In 1999 Dr. Chodobski and his wife Dr. Joanna Szmydynger-Chodobska established a new Gordon Research Conference Series on "Barriers of the CNS." This conference has become one of two major international conferences on brain barriers, attracting many scientists in the field from and outside the US.

Joanna Szmydynger-Chodobska, PhD

Dr. Szmydynger-Chodobska is an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Like her husband Dr. Adam Chodobski, she is native of Poland. She received her master's degree in biology from Warsaw University and a PhD in neuroscience from Medical School of Warsaw. She pursued her pre-doctoral training at the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine in Melbourne, Australia, where she accompanied her husband, working on water and electrolyte balance in the brain. Dr. Chodobska joined the faculty at Alpert Medical School in 1995. She is a member of several professional societies and published articles in various scientific journals. In 1999 Dr. Szmydynger-Chodobska together with her husband Dr. Adam Chodobski established and co-chaired a new Gordon Research Conference Series on "Barriers of the CNS."

Gregory D. Jay, MD, PhD

Dr. Jay is a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Division of Engineering at Brown University. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Jay holds an MD, PhD (in experimental pathology) and double bachelor's degrees (in engineering and biochemistry) from State University of New York at Stony Brook. He holds over a dozen issued patents and pending patent applications covering diverse technologies in pulsus paradoxus monitoring and the lubrication of mammalian joints. Dr. Jay is also a scientific co-founder of Lµbris, LLC (www.lubris.net) based in Framingham, MA. This startup company is developing biotribological treatments for dry eyes, prevention of posttraumatic osteoarthritis, surgical adhesion prevention and other unmet medical needs. The technology central to the company’s growth after signing a licensing agreement with Novartis is the production of recombinant human PRG4 (lubricin) based on intellectual property and patents awarded to Dr. Jay and licensed to Lµbris. He and Dr. Chodobski are currently evaluating anti-inflammatory therapeutic effects PRG4 in using a rat model of traumatic brain injury.

John Marshall, PhD

Professor of Medical Science at Brown University in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology. He has a broad background in neuroscience, with specific training in molecular biology and electrophysiology techniques studying signal transduction pathways using biochemical, electrophysiological (slice and patch clamping), and imaging techniques. His lab focuses on mechanisms of neuronal modulation with a particular interest in neurodegeneration, growth factor signaling, and learning and memory. He is the co-PI on Dr. Chodobski’s R01 NIH grant in which they are testing novel peptidomimetic compound developed in Marshall’s lab for the treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Steven W Threlkeld, PhD

He is Associate Professor and Program Director of Neuroscience at Regis College , Weston, MA. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Prior to joining Regis College Dr. Threlkeld was an associate professor at Rhode Island College and coordinator for the Behavioral Neuroscience program He was also adjunct assistant professor in the Perinatal Brain Research Laboratory at Women & Infants Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where he studied blood brain barrier dysfunction associated with neonatal brain injury. Currently, Dr. Threlkeld and Dr. Chodobski collaborate on NIH-funded projects on traumatic brain injury.