Abstract:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects millions of individuals annually resulting in disrupted neuronal circuitry, neurological deficits, and neuroinflammation. Resident and peripheral immune cells interact with damaged neurons after TBI and can contribute to chronic neuroinflammation and neuropathology. Dr. Wofford’s research focuses on understanding and controlling neuro-immune interactions as a therapeutic strategy for TBI. In this talk, Dr. Wofford will describe recent experiments investigating neuro-immune interactions in an advanced translational model of TBI and will describe one method to control inflammation at the cellular level.

Bio:
Dr. Kate Wofford trained with Kara Spiller at Drexel University and Kacy Cullen at the University of Pennsylvania for her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering where she characterized acute neuroinflammation after brain injury and developed a strategy to reprogram immune cells. Now, Kate is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Kacy Cullen at the University of Pennsylvania where she uses advanced preclinical models to study behavioral, neuropathological, and immunological consequences of brain injury. Her work has been recognized with receipt of multiple awards including the K99/R00 Career Development Award, F32 National Research Service Award, Koerner Award, Outstanding Scholar in Neuroscience Award, Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Research Excellence Fellowship, Anthony Marmarou Award, Sanjeev Kumar Memorial Award, and the Wan Shih Translational Research Award.

Zoom:
https://umich.zoom.us/j/91712262512