NMPT Training Faculty
| Basic Science Mentor |
|
| Paul J. Reier, PhD |
Professor of Neuroscience Investigator, McKnight Brain Institute College of Medicine |
Paul J. Reier, PhD, is the Mark F. Overstreet Professor of Neurological
Surgery and Neuroscience, Professor of Physiological Sciences and a world
renowned expert in spinal cord injury. He has pioneered the field of central
and peripheral nervous system regeneration. He has shown that intraspinal
transplants of fetal spinal cord tissue can undergo extensive differentiation
and survive for long post-graft intervals even in lesions resembling those
seen in cases of human spinal cord trauma. He uses a variety of neuroanatomical
methods and magnetic resonance imaging techniques to assess the cellular
composition of these grafts, their ability to integrate with the host spinal
cord, and the axonal interactions established between host and donor tissues
in both acute and chronic lesions of the rat and cat spinal cord. He also
studies the ability of intraspinal grafts to reduce functional deficits
associated with spinal cord damage using behavioral and electrophysiological
approaches. Other research in Dr. Reier’s lab involves the introduction
of molecular approaches whereby genes that might play important roles in
regeneration are either introduced into cells of the injured nervous system
or donor tissue constituents. Experiments also are being performed to define
alternative sources of tissue for transplantation. Dr. Reier is funded by
multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health and he serves as
the Co-Director of the NMPT training program.
View
Dr. Reier's home page
