Research Program
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Karimi's laboratory
offers training opportunities in
neurosciences and stem cell research
for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows as well
as undergraduate and medical students. Our program is
nationally and internationally recognized for its
contribution to neural repair and regeneration after
injuries to the central nervous system with special
interest in spinal cord injury (SCI) and multiple
sclerosis (MS). We are particularly recognized for our
neural stem cell-based and pharmacological therapeutic
approaches in
preclinical models of SCI and MS. We combine
preclinical studies, with various transgenic mouse
models and primary in vitro systems to uncover
cellular and molecular mechanisms of repair and
regeneration after SCI and MS. We specifically focus on developing
repair strategies to optimize the innate capacity of
endogenous and transplanted neural stem cells for cell
replacement, neuroprotection, remyelination and
regeneration. Other major focus in our program has
been on neuroinflammation, glial cell, matrix
remodeling and cell death. In our
laboratory, we employ an array of advanced
approaches in neuroscience and stem cell research
that include in vivo spinal cord injury and
micro-surgical techniques, cell transplantation,
transgenic models, neural stem cell/neural tissue
culture, pharmacological drug delivery, cellular,
biochemical and molecular techniques, genetic
manipulations, cell tracing,
fluorescence/confocal imaging, bioengineering
approaches, live animal imaging and
functional/neurological studies.
Areas of research interests:
Current projects: - Uncovering the endogenous cellular and
molecular mechanisms of neural
stem cells differentiation in spinal cord injury and MS - Neural stem cell transplantation in spinal cord injury -
Investigating the modulatory roles of reactive
astrocytes, microglia and matrix remodeling in spinal cord injury and MS - Uncovering immune mechanisms and developing immunomodulatory therapies in spinal cord injury and MS - Developing bioengineering
approaches for stem cell and drug delivery in CNS
injuries
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