Congratulations to Dr. Paulina Scheuren (Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. John Kramer’s laboratory) who was awarded the 2024 Bluma Tischler Postdoctoral Fellowship to support her research project entitled “Spinal cord temperature as a non-invasive measure of neuroinflammation in the human spinal cord”
Summary:
Dr. Scheuren’s work seeks to provide in-vivo evidence of neuroinflammation in the human spinal cord, a common disease mechanism in individuals with spinal cord lesions. Among challenges, few, if any, biomarkers applicable in humans have been designed to detect neuroinflammation in the injured spinal cord. To address this knowledge gap, Dr. Scheuren’s work will assess local markers of neuroinflammation in the spinal cord using non-invasive measures of spinal cord temperature in individuals with spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis. The findings of Dr. Scheuren’s work will inform clinical trials for testing novel therapeutic targets (e.g., to reduce/halt neuroinflammation) and ultimately guide mechanistically founded therapies.