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Alan I. Faden

 

M.D., 1971, University of Chicago
Phone: 202.687.0492
Fax: 202.687.4143
E-mail: fadena@georgetown.edu

 

 

Dr. Faden's research addresses pathobiological mechanisms of neuronal cell death at the molecular and cellular levels, and the development of novel neuroprotective treatment strategies. The program is highly interdisciplinary, utilizing molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology, pharmacology, behavior, magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy, and quantitative histological analysis. There are 4 major lines of investigation.

  1. Examining mechanisms of cell death in CNS injury, using both in vivo and in vitro models with particular emphasis on caspase-dependent versus caspase-independent programmed cell-death.
  2. Elucidating the role of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) in posttraumatic cell death and microglial modulation, and delineating the signal transduction pathways involved.
  3. Examining the role of cell cycle pathways in the pathobiology of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury.
  4. Developing novel neuroprotective treatment strategies, with particular focus on multifunctional targeting.

Laboratory for the Study of Central Nervous System Injury
Medline Publications

Recent Papers:

  1. Byrnes K, Stoica B, Pajoohesh-Ganji A, Loane DJ, Faden AI. Activation of mGluR5 improves recovery after spinal cord injury in rodents. Ann. Neurol. (in press).
  2. Loane DJ, Pocivavsek A, Moussa C EH, Thompson R, Matsuoka Y, Faden AI, Rebeck GW, Burns MP. APP secretases as therapeutic targets for traumatic brain injury. Nat. Med. (in press).
  3. Byrnes K, Loane DJ, Faden AI. Metabotropic glutamate receptors as targets for multipotential treatment of neurological disorders. Neurotherapeutics, 6:94-107, 2009.
  4. Stoica B, Byrnes K, Faden AI. Multifunctional drug treatment in neurotrauma. Neurotherapeutics, 6:14-27, 2009.
  5. Cartagena CM, Farid A, Burns MP, Pajoohesh-Ganji A, Pak DT, Faden AI, Rebeck GW. Cortical injury increases cholesterol 24S hydroxylase (Cyp46) levels in the rat brain. J. Neurotrauma, 9:1087-98, 2008.
  6. Byrnes K, Stoica B, Loane DJ, Riccio A, Davis MI, Faden AI. mGluR5 activation inhibits microglial associated inflammation and neurotoxicity. Glia, Sep. 24, 2008.
  7. Hilton GD, Stoica B, Byrnes K, Faden AI. Roscovitine reduces neuronal loss, glial activation, and neurologic deficits after brain trauma. J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab., 28(11):1845-59, 2008.