Research Interests

Complement system in neurodegeneration - Our lab was first to show that reduced activation of complement can promote Alzheimer’s like disease in mice including amyloidosis and accumulation of degenerating neurons. We concluded that the complement system in brain functions to clear abnormal protein deposits and degenerating or dying cells. Mouse models lacking different components of the complement system are being used in combination with cell culture to understand how this innate immune cascade fulfills its functions in the normal and injured CNS.