RESEARCH EXPERTISE

• My laboratory addresses issues of repair mechanisms induced by traumatic brain injury. We examine morphological, molecular, physiological and behavioral endpoints to assess these recovery processes. Currently, we are focusing on neural plasticity affected by neuroexcitation and deafferentation insults. These studies dissect mechanisms involving specific transmitter systems (i.e., glutamate, acetylcholine, dopamine) and environmental cues for synaptic reorganization (i.e., growth factors, extracellular matrix, matrix proteinases). Our work with drugs targeting neurotransmitter systems holds promise for enhancing long-term recovery of cognitive function and may reduce the high postinjury morbidity observed after human brain trauma.