Phillip Popovich, Ph.D.

Research Program Award (R35)
Image
Photo of Phillip Popovich, Ph.D. FY19 Research Program Award (R35) recipient
Institution
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is not just about the loss of the ability to walk, because many other systems are affected as well. Since immune and metabolic processes are tightly coupled, it is likely that many co-morbidities affect people with SCI, including lung or skin infections, impaired wound healing, chronic depression, atherosclerosis, and anxiety, all as a function of impaired immunometabolism. Experiments in this proposal are designed to study SCI as a disease of the entire body and test the overall hypothesis that post-injury dysautonomia breaks neuro-immune homeostasis, creating a state of “neurogenic meta-inflammation.”