Before you read the blurb about me (on the off chance that any one apart from me comes to this page), I thought I'd mention that the web page for the 2009 CVB conference is up.  The meeting, which is going even more global this year, will be held in Sendai Japan. 

Hello,

I am an Assitant Professor at Marshall Medical School Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Toxicology .  Originally from the UK, I  arrived in West Virginia via a 10 year stay at the University of Arizona in Tucson.  Initially as a Postdoctoral Fellow and then as a Research Assistant Professor.  I am a member of the faculty for the Marshall Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program, in the Cardiovascular Disease, Obesity and Diabetes research cluster (CODRC).

My studies over the last decade have focused on the barrier systems of the brain.  In particular I am intersted in two key research areas of the blood brain barrier (BBB), drug delivery and role of the BBB in disease.  Like everyone else I first heard about the BBB as an undergraduate student.  The belief then (at least at the teaching level) was that the BBB was a static barrier, only really of importance for drug delivery, and maintaining "immune privilege" of the brain.  Over the last 20 years there has been a huge growth in defining what the barriers are and how they function.  The concept of the BBB is constantly evolving.  Hopefully this site will be able  to evolve in concert with BBB research and supply a resource for people who would like to keep abreast of current concepts. 

Two major areas of BBB research that seem to be talking points in the field at the moment are:

  • The role of other cells (astrocytes, pericytes, neurones, microglia, and various white blood cells) in regulating barrier function has lead to the concept of the "Neurovascular Unit" (NVU). 
  • The role of the NVU in neurological disorders and peripeheral disease.

 If your really interested in the BBB, I would recommend a number of conference series, the Cerbrovascular Biology conference (CVB),  the Gordon Research Conference on "Barriers of the CNS" , and the signal  transduction and the BBB conference.  Information on these can be found at the International Brain Barriers Society, along with other useful information.

 

 

If you have any suggestions or complaints regarding this page, please contact me via email at the address below.