You are cordially invited to attend the 26th Annual
Kentucky Spinal Cord & Head Injury Research Trust Symposium
May 18th – 19th, 2021
This year’s virtual meeting will highlight innovative approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI), insights into cerebrovascular pathology associated with TBI, influences of gut dysbiosis and pain on spinal cord injury (SCI) recovery, and emerging bioengineering/stem cell therapeutics for SCI. Registration is FREE, but is Required.
Get more information and Register Here
Summary of Program Sessions/Speakers
Innovative Approaches for Diagnosis, Prognosis, and
Treatment of TBI
- Keynote Lecture: Brain-derived exosomes as a prognostic
tool for traumatic brain injury
David Meaney, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania - Extracellular vesicle biomarkers for Alzheimer’s and traumatic
brain injury.
Dimitrios Kapogiannis, M.D., National Institute of Aging - Immunological mechanisms underlying damage and repair of
the injured brain.
Dorian McGavern, Ph.D., National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke
SCI Pathophysiology – Influences of Gut Microbiome and
Spinal Learning
Chair: Sasha Rabchevsky, Ph.D.
- Gut microbiome is a disease-modifying factor after spinal cord
injury.
Kristina Kigerl, Ph.D., Ohio State University - The pain of polytrauma: How pain input after SCI can increase
tissue loss and undermine long-term recovery
James Grau, Ph.D., Texas A&M University
Neuroinflammation in TBI and SCI
Chair: Adam Bachstetter, Ph.D.
- Cell-specific control of TBI-induced neuroinflammation by Eph
signaling
Michelle Theus, Ph.D., Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary
Medicine - Targeting neuroinflammation in SCI
John Gensel, Ph.D., University of Kentucky
Emerging Topics
Chair: James Shaughnessy, DMD., Chairman of Kentucky
Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Trust
- Inulin supplementation mitigates gut microbiome dysbiosis
and restores cerebral blood flow in mice with mild traumatic
brain injury
Lucille M. Yanckello, University of Kentucky Trainee - Role of the clock pathway in pathogenesis of SCI
Lukasz Slomnicki, Ph.D., University of Louisville Trainee - Therapeutic implications of a changing SCI demographic
Andrew Stewart, Ph.D., University of Kentucky Trainee - Neuromodulation of spinal locomotor circuitry to elicit stepping
after pediatric spinal cord injury
Katie Lucas, PhD, DPT., University of Louisville Trainee - Featured Speaker
Advocacy: Setting the family table to talk politics
Matthew Rodreick, Unite 2 Fight Paralysis
Multidisciplinary Approaches for SCI Therapeutics
Chair: Samir Patel, Ph.D.
- Neural precursor cell transplantation for cervical spinal cord
repair
Michael Lane, Ph.D., Drexel University - Sensory cortical control of movement in health and disease
Kajana Satkunendrarajah, Ph.D., Medical College of Wisconsin - Synthetic materials and stem cell-based multimodal approaches to investigating recovery neurobiology of injured spinal cord
Ted Teng, Ph.D., Harvard University, Spaulding Rehabilitation
Hospital Network, and Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Vascular Damage/Repair Following TBI
Chair: Lei Chen, M.D., Ph.D.
- Impairments in cerebral blood flow regulation following mild
traumatic brain injury
Sushmita Purkayastha, Ph.D., Southern Methodist University - Vascular damage and repair in TBI
Andre Obenaus, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine - Preclinical studies on the use of targeted antibody-antioxidant
enzyme conjugates for vascular protection in TBI-associated
neuroinflammation
Servio Ramirez, Ph.D., Temple University
