Research
Research
The IPN features a world-class group of investigators with extensive expertise in pharmacology and neurotherapeutics, and Dr. Reddy serves as its founding director. The member labs focus on innovative projects using cutting-edge tools in neuroscience, pharmacology and therapeutic fields.
Acute Neuronal Injuries
D. Samba Reddy
The Reddy lab is developing innovative, disease-modifying therapies for preventing the development and progression of epilepsy.
James Grau
The Grau laboratory explores neurotrauma, pain, and plasticity, or in other words, the effect of pain on recovery after injury to the spinal cord.
Cédric G. Geoffroy
The main focus of the Geoffroy laboratory is to better understand the molecular, cellular and physiological changes occurring after neurotrauma, in particular after spinal cord injury (SCI).
Farida Sohrabji
Sohrabji’s research program focuses on brain-immune interactions regulated by estrogen and its implications for neuro-inflammatory diseases such as stroke in women.
Lee A. Shapiro
Shapiro’s lab focuses on neuroanatomical, neuropathological, neuroimmune and peripheral contributions to neurodegenerative disorders, traumatic brain injury and epilepsy.
Michelle Hook
The primary focus of Dr. Hook’s current research is examining the effects of morphine on recovery of function after spinal cord injury.
Candice Brinkmeyer-Langford
Dr. Brinkmeyer-Langford’s research focuses on the roles of genetic diversity on neurological conditions resulting from environmental agents, particularly viral infections. Her team uses Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV), a neurotropic virus affecting mice, and the genetically diverse Collaborative Cross mouse resource, to study the mechanisms underlying neuropathological outcomes to infection.
Jennifer Dulin
Dr. Dulin and her team study the pathophysiology underlying central and
peripheral dysfunctions after spinal cord injury and develop new therapies that can improve quality of life for those living with spinal cord injury with special focus on optimizing neural stem/progenitor cell transplantation to restore neural circuitry controlling motor, sensory, and autonomic functions.
Dylan McCreedy
Dr. McCreedy and his lab are interested in the roles of early inflammatory events in tissue damage and wound healing following spinal cord injury.
Chronic Neurological Disease
Beth Boudreau
Boudreau’s research focuses on neuroinflammation, neuro-oncology, and non-invasive prognostic indicators for neurological disease.
C. Jane Welsh
The long-term goal of Dr. Welsh’s research is to understand how viral infections instigate the pathogenesis of neurological and autoimmune conditions. To this end, her laboratory has investigated the Theiler’s virus-induced demyelination (TVID) model of multiple sclerosis (MS) and epilepsy.
Ashok K. Shetty
Shetty’s laboratory is interested in developing clinically applicable strategies that are efficacious for enhancing brain function after injury, disease, or aging.
D. Samba Reddy
The Reddy lab is developing innovative, disease-modifying therapies for preventing the development and progression of epilepsy.
Xin Wu
Wu’s recent research in cardiovascular and neuronal systems focuses on: 1) which ion channels are activated by mechanical stress, 2) which ion channels are modulated by integrins, 3) how integrin-mediated signaling pathways modulate ion channel function and mechanotransduction in physiological and pathological conditions, 4) epilepsy study, neurosteroids and new drug development.
Roderick H. Dashwood
The Dashwood Lab examines genetic and epigenetic changes in cancer. Lab members come from diverse research backgrounds including molecular toxicology, biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, pharmacology, pharmacy, and nutrition.
Praveen Rajendran
Rajendran’s research relates to identifying novel epigenetic approaches to the treatment and prevention of colorectal cancer, where most therapeutic options are woefully ineffective.
Robert Tsai
Tsai laboratory is currently focused on developing and commercializing a novel 3-D-printed mucoadhesive patch to eradicate oral precancerous lesions; creating new diagnostic models to predict the risk of liver and oral precancerous lesions in developing into cancers; and determining the efficacy of a new class of nanomedicine in treating glioblastoma multiforme using orthotopic mouse brain tumor models.
Rahul Srinivasan
Dr. Srinivasan’s research focuses on developing a mechanistic understanding of neurodegeneration, with the goal of discovering novel strategies to treat neurodegenerative disorders
Mendell Rimer
Research in the Rimer lab centers on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the formation, maintenance and pathology of synapses, the connections between nerve cells and their targets.
David J. Earnest
Research in Dr. Earnest’s laboratory employs multidisciplinary approaches to study the cellular and molecular neurobiology of cell-autonomous circadian clocks and the signal transduction pathway responsible for circadian photoentrainment.
Shameena Bake
Dr. Bake is primarily interested in stroke research. Current studies use an animal model to examine age and sex differences in recovery from stroke, focusing at the cellular level and astrocytes, and impact of alcohol consumption on stroke outcomes.
Karen Newell-Rogers
Dr. Newell and her team study how individual molecular immune responses contribute to the manifestation of infectious and post-infectious chronic
inflammatory syndromes, and how a cell's energy demands, and energy strategy impact the ability of the cell to be recognized by the immune system.
Lee Shapiro
Dr. Shapiro’s lab focuses on neuroanatomical, neuropathological, neuroimmune and peripheral contributions to neurodegenerative disorders, traumatic brain injury and epilepsy.
Irtisha Singh
Dr. Singh’s team studies the pathophysiology of glioblastoma multiforme with the goal to understand dysregulation of transcriptional and co-transcriptional regulatory programs as drivers of malignancies and is interested in epigenetic and transcriptional regulatory programs.
Hua Zhang
Dr. Zhang is interested in the Roles of bone morphogenetic protein 1 (BMP1)/tolloid-like I (TLL1) proteinases in dentinogenesis and the roles of FAM20C (family with sequence similarity 20, member C) and SIBLING (small integrin binding ligands N-linked glycoprotein) family proteins in brain homeostasis.
Dr. Gerard Toussaint
Cédric G. Geoffroy
The main focus of the Geoffroy laboratory is to better understand the molecular, cellular and physiological changes occurring after neurotrauma, in particular after spinal cord injury (SCI).
Farida Sohrabji
Sohrabji’s research program focuses on brain-immune interactions regulated by estrogen and its implications for neuro-inflammatory diseases such as stroke in women.
Candice Brinkmeyer-Langford
Dr. Brinkmeyer-Langford’s research focuses on the roles of genetic diversity on neurological conditions resulting from environmental agents, particularly viral infections. Her team uses Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV), a neurotropic virus affecting mice, and the genetically diverse Collaborative Cross mouse resource, to study the mechanisms underlying neuropathological outcomes to infection.
Drug Abuse & Neuropsychiatric Disease
Ursula H. Winzer-Serhan
Winzer-Serhan is interested in studying how gene environmental interactions shape the brain during development. Her lab is currently focused on the effects of nicotine.
Rajesh C. Miranda
Miranda’s research focuses on fetal brain development, stem cells, microRNAs and teratology.
Jun Wang
The Wang lab's research focuses on the role of basal ganglia circuitry in the neurobiological basis of neuropsychiatric diseases. These diseases include alcohol use disorder (alcohol addiction), opioid use disorder, and Alzheimer's.
Laura N. Smith
Broadly, Dr. Smith is interested in the underlying molecular and circuit mechanisms of complex behavior, particularly in how alterations in such pathways lead to the maladaptive features of mental illnesses.
Israel Liberzon
Liberzon’s primary research interest centers on emotions, stress and stress-related disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), particularly in the regulation and dysregulation of stress response systems. His work integrates cognitive, functional neuroimaging, neuroendocrine and genetic approaches.
Hubert Amrein
Dr. Amrein and his team are interested in sensory perception of olfaction and taste, the molecular and neural basis of sugar and amino acid perception. Other projects address the role of pheromone receptors in social behaviors, including courtship and mating, egg laying, and aggression.
Samikkannu Thangavel
Dr. Thangavel's lab is predominantly interested in the neuropathogenesis of HIV and drug abuse. He and his team are elucidating the role of HIV and drugs of abuse in energy dysregulation, which ultimately may lead the neurodegeneration..
Neurostimulation
Hangue Park
Dr. Park’s research interests include neuromodulation using electrical stimulation, rhythmic movements in human body, rehabilitation after spinal cord injury, human augmentation, wireless intraoral device and its applications, and biomedical system and IC design.
Cédric G. Geoffroy
The main focus of the Geoffroy laboratory is to better understand the molecular, cellular and physiological changes occurring after neurotrauma, in particular after spinal cord injury (SCI).
D. Samba Reddy
The Reddy lab is developing innovative, disease-modifying therapies for preventing the development and progression of epilepsy.
Pharmacotherapeutics & Clinical Trials
Mansoor Khan
Khan’s research interests include formulations design and development, biopharmaceutics, and 3D printing. He is the director of the Formulations and Drug Delivery Core Laboratory at Texas A&M.
Ziyaur Rahman
The Rahman’s lab focuses on three areas: ultra-long delivery system, abuse/meth-deterrent formulations, and 3D printing in personalized drug delivery.
D. Samba Reddy
The Reddy lab is developing innovative, disease-modifying therapies for preventing the development and progression of epilepsy.
Dr. Allison Ficht
Gerard Toussaint
Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery
Research interest: Glioblastoma biology
Roderic I. Pettigrew
Dean, Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Beth Boudreau
Assistant Professor of Neurology/Resident in Veterinary Radiology
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences