Heads of Laboratories
Vice President for Educational Affairs and Dean of Graduate and Post Graduate Studies
Research Professor
Laboratory of Neurobiology and Genetics
strickland@rockefeller.edu
One approach for gaining insight into the complex mammalian nervous system is to study diseases that perturb its function at the molecular level. Such studies can reveal the roles of critical molecules by identifying those that, by their alteration or absence, cause disease. Dr. Strickland’s lab investigates mouse models of neurological diseases, using genetic, cell biological and biochemical approaches to investigate neurological function, dysfunction and repair.
Neurological disorders of the peripheral and central nervous systems represent profound medical problems worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and stroke affect millions of people and have severe physical, psychological and financial consequences. By using mouse models of neurological diseases, Dr. Strickland is working to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which neural function is disrupted.
In investigating neuronal dysfunction, the Strickland lab maintains three general lines of study. One is the mechanisms underlying
the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Cerebrovascular defects contribute to the progression of this pathology, and members
of the lab are using transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s to evaluate blood-brain barrier damage and the roles that blood clot
formation and degradation play in this disease. Their research has determined that the amyloid-
peptide, which is known to be a
causative factor in Alzheimer’s, promotes fibrin accumulation in the brain and increases brain inflammation. This peptide also alters
blood clot formation and degradation, which can compromise blood flow, exacerbate inflammation and lead to neuronal death.
These results suggest that fibrin and the mechanisms involved in its accumulation and clearance may present novel therapeutic targets
for slowing progression of the disease.
A second area of interest is the cause of neuronal excitotoxic death in stroke, seizures and alcohol abuse. The kainate receptor subunit KA1 is of particular interest as it is involved in this form of cell death. Results from the lab suggest that plasmin-catalyzed laminin degradation products play important roles in KA1 receptor upregulation and neuronal cell death after overstimulation. The importance of KA1 in cell death after stroke provides a novel therapeutic approach to treatment of stroke.
A third area of investigation is the use of stem cells to rescue peripheral nerve defects. Previous research has shown that adiposederived stem cells rescue sciatic nerve dysfunction in young adult laminin-deficient mice. The Strickland lab is now investigating the molecular and cellular basis for this rescue and evaluating the potential for other neural crest-derived stem cells to rescue laminindeficient peripheral nerve dysfunction.
CAREER
Dr. Strickland received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Rhodes College in Memphis in 1968 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Michigan in 1972. He came to Rockefeller in 1973 as a research associate and was named assistant professor in 1975 and associate professor in 1980. He moved to Stony Brook University in 1983 as an associate professor and was promoted to professor in 1987. He returned to Rockefeller in 2000 as head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Genetics and dean of graduate and postgraduate studies.
Dr. Strickland received an honorary doctor of science degree in 2006 from Rhodes College, a Distinguished Alumni Award in
2002 and a Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Michigan in 2001. He was named a John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation Fellow in 1998 and was an established investigator for the American Heart Association from 1981 to
1986. He received a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1973 and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research
Fellowship in 1970. In 2006, together with his daughter, Eliza Strickland, he published The Illustrated Timeline of Science: A Crash
Course in Words and Pictures.
|
| Return to full listing |
|
