Description:

Abstract:

Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) transplants support nervous tissue repair and functional recovery, which has propelled multiple clinical trials for spinal cord injury (SCI). The mechanisms underlying MSC transplant-mediated nervous tissue repair remain incompletely understood, while their overall effect on recovery after SCI, as observed in animal models and the clinic, is limited. My lab laboratory focuses on: 1. enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms of MSC transplant-based repair of spinal cord nervous tissue, and 2. using the acquired knowledge for developing more effective, translatable, approaches for spinal cord repair. In this talk, I will present my work on MSC transplant survival and MSC-mediated angiogenesis and macrophage phenotype shift in spinal cord nervous tissue repair. The potential of artificial biomaterials to enhance MSC transplant-mediated reparative effects will be discussed.

Speaker Info:

Martin Oudega received his PhD in Medical Biology from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and previously held faculty positions at the University of Miami, the University of Pittsburgh, and Johns Hopkins University. His main laboratory is situated at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. His work is focused on engineering strategies to improve function after SCI. He uses animal models to better understand the neuroanatomical and functional consequences of SCI, with an emphasis on inflammation and vascularization. He studies the efficacy of cell transplants, alone or in combination with other repair-supporting interventions, to elicit anatomical repair and functional recover after SCI. He has a special interest in employing natural and artificial biomaterials to enhance the ability of cell transplants to repair damaged nervous tissue and/or form new nervous tissue and in approaches to enhance neuroplasticity to support training-induced recovery. The overall goal of his laboratory is to develop spinal cord repair strategies for translation into the clinic.