Neuro-immunology in brain health and disease

Dr. Sterling Ortega Lab

The overarching theme of my research program is to discover novel therapeutics that can reverse immune-mediated neurological dysfunction. My Ph.D. training involved the elucidation of myelin-reactive CD8 T-cells and their ability to target myelin-specific CD4 T-cells. By targeting these putative neuro-pathogenic cells, we could halt the progression of disease in a model of multiple sclerosis (MS). During this time, I became conversant with cellular and molecular immunological techniques, which I employed in murine and human MS studies. My postdoctoral research elucidated the role of B-cells in ischemia-induced brain injury. My postdoctoral fellowship included advanced training in several neuroscientific techniques such as behavior/motor function analysis, in vitro ischemic models, and in vivo stroke models. Now, I am employing the skills and expertise from these two distinct fields, using multi-organismal approaches with the singular focused purpose of reversing primary and secondary (immune-mediated) neurological dysfunction. My overall research goals are to: 1) Identify the role of neuronal-reactive CD8 T-cells in secondary immune-mediated stroke neuropathology. 2) Determine how myelin-reactive CD8 T-cells contribute to functional recovery in multiple sclerosis. 3) Identify other disease targets where myelin-reactive CD8 T-cells can be used as therapies.

In vitro - cell culture, flow cytometry, Immunohistochemistry, elisa, spatial transcriptomics, human tissue samples

In Vivo - animal models, surgery, cognitive/memory/sensory/motor performance assay, and cerebral organoids