Teresa Wood, Ph.D.

Dr. Teresa Wood’s research focuses on determining how growth factors and signaling pathways interact to promote growth, survival and differentiation of breast epithelial and neural progenitor cells. Using rodent and zebrafish models, the goal of this project is to determine the mechanisms by which mTOR regulates oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination, and whether the downstream signaling pathways differ between the brain and spinal cord. Understanding the signaling pathways that regulate myelination may lead to better treatments of devastating diseases that result from demyelination, such as multiple sclerosis.