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Residency at BIDMC is about discovery: Discovery about your interests and
talents,
but also discovery about the nervous system, how it goes wrong in
neurological disease, and what we can do to improve the outlook for our
patients.
Bright and curious minds cannot be constrained by what is already known;
they find that residency is a continuous series of presentations of
problems that need to be solved, many of which do not have easy solutions.
Our faculty are working on many of those solutions, and they welcome our
residents as colleagues to join them on these voyages of discovery.
Faculty at BIDMC work on research problems in almost all of the
subspecialties of neurology. They work on these problems at all levels. We
have more than a dozen
basic science research laboratories, investigating fields from Parkinson’s disease to epilepsy, sleep to
autism, and brain tumors to peripheral neuropathies to stroke
pathophysiology.
Our patients inspire a robust clinical research program in cognitive
neuroscience, where we explore neuroimaging, neuropsychology, and
non-invasive brain stimulation; but also in human autonomic physiology,
muscle pathophysiology, and sleep physiology.
As a clinical department, we have human-based research programs focusing
on:
Autism
Alzheimer’s disease
Fronto-temporal dementia
Memory disorders
Stroke prevention
Recovery from stroke
Concussion
Parkinson’s disease
Huntington’s disease
Spinocerebellar Ataxia
ALS
Peripheral neuropathies
Autonomic disorders
Epilepsy
Brain tumors
Multiple sclerosis
Headache
Sleep disorders
The total NIH support for research in our Department in 2015 was
$16,100,000, comparable to large neurology departments for entire
universities (e.g., Emory, Cornell). Children’s Hospital has a similar
level of support. Together, we have an R25 program that has supported over
a dozen neurology residents from our programs who have done postdoctoral
research training during and after their residencies. However, almost all
of our residents choose to participate in research during their residency,
and present this at our annual Resident Research Day.
The Neurology departments at BIDMC and Children’s Hospital participate in
the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke R25 program,
which allows selected residents in selected programs to take a six-month
block of time for research during their residency and then provides up to
two years of postdoctoral fellowship time to do research after residency.
We have had an average of two to four residents per year from the adult and
pediatric programs compete for these fellowships, and about 80 percent of
them have been chosen to receive them (compared to a national average of
about 50 percent).
The R25 program supports work that can be either basic laboratory or
human-based experimental studies. All residents receive information about
the program during their PGY2 year, and those who are interested are
encouraged to choose a mentor and under the guidance of that mentor and the
program leadership prepare a brief written application during the summer of
their PGY3 year. The applications are sent in during the following Fall,
and the announcements of awards are made in the following Spring.
Successful R25 residents then plan a block of six months of research time
during their PGY4 year.
Past R25 fellows from our program have been successful in achieving K08
awards and are now faculty members at Harvard and at universities around
the country.
Alana Kirby
R25 awarded 2016-2018
Title: Role of the dorsomedial medulla in temporal modulation of gait.
Mentor: Veronique VanDerHorst, MD, PhD
We plan to investigate the function of two promising populations of neurons
in the dorsomedial medulla on temporal modulation of gait using novel
techniques of gait-triggered optogenetic excitation as well as optogenetic
silencing in a mouse model. This knowledge will advance translational
efforts to develop powerful therapies for humans with gait disorders, such
as Freezing of Gait or festination.
Vaishnav Krishnan
R25 awarded 2013-2015
Title: The Role of Ube3a in the Behavioral Consequences of Seizures in
Autism
Mentor: Matthew Anderson, MD, PhD
Epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder share a complex
etiopathophysiological relationship which remains poorly understood. This
proposal served to explore the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the
long term deleterious effects of recurrent seizures on social behavior, as
measured in laboratory mice. We have discovered an important role for
seizure-induced neuroadaptations in midbrain regions, providing a pathway
for pharmacological or genetic avenues for therapeutic intervention.
Nigel Pedersen
R25 awarded 2012-2014.
Title: Genetic Manipulation of the Hypothalamic Arousal System
Mentors: Clifford B. Saper, MD, PhD and Patrick M. Fuller, PhD
The caudal hypothalamus has been an hypothesized part of the ascending
arousal system for more than a century. In this project, the
supramammillary nucleus was found to be responsible for this effect.
Activation of glumatergic neurons of this region potently promoted
wakefulness after selective activation using a designer receptor
exclusively activated by designer drug (DREADD) technique. In addition to
producing behavioral wakefulness, activation of these neurons resulted in
sustained activation Furthermore, activation of these neurons resulted in
sustained activation of both the cerebral cortex and hippocampus;
inactivation resulted in drowsiness. This neuronal population is a strong
candidate for the long-sought wake-promoting caudal hypothalamic cell
group.
Joel Geerling
R25 awarded 2012 (For 2013-2015)
Title: Identifying wake-promoting neurons in the pons: an optogenetic
approach.
Mentor: Tom Scammell, MD
The dorsolateral pontine tegmentum, where it merges into the midbrain
reticular formation, is the most important region of the central nervous
system for maintaining arousal. Even small lesions within this critical
region often cause coma. This region contains many different populations of
neurons, with a wide variety of functions, most of them unrelated to coma
or arousal. Our goal is to combine genetic, anatomic, and physiologic
approaches in awake, behaving mice to identify and characterize
specifically those neurons in this complex region that are necessary for
conscious wakefulness.
Soma Sengupta
R25 awarded 2011
Title: Leveraging a5-GABA-A receptor subunit (GABRA5) expression in
clinically aggressive medulloblastomas as a novel therapeutic approach
Mentors: Scott Pomeroy, MD, PhD and Frances Jensen, MD
Over the years, many of our residents have gone on to start successful
research programs of their own. In addition to the R25 awards during
training, our residents have received competitive grants such as the AAN
Research Awards, among others.
Here are just a few:
Vaishnav Krishnan, MD, PhD
Clinical Research Training Fellowship in Epilepsy
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
The Role of Cbln1 in Mediating Seizure-Induced Impairments in Social
Behavior
Mentor: Matthew Anderson, MD, PhD
Funded by Lundbeck
Katherine McDonell, MD
Clinical Research Training Fellowship in Parkinsons’s Disease
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Norepinephrine-targeted Therapy for Action Control in Parkinson Disease
Mentor: David Robertson, MD
Funded by Lundbeck
Stephanie Buss, MD
Clinical Research Training Fellowship in Alzheimer’s Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as a Biomarker in Mild Cognitive
Impairment
Mentor: Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD
Funded by the Allergan Foundation
Corey Fehnel, MD
American Brain Foundation Clinical Research Training Fellowships
Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University
Improving Prediction of Hospital Readmission Following Acute Ischemic
Stroke
Mentor: Vincent Mor, Phd, Med
Cosponsored by the American Academy of Neurology and the American Brain
Foundation
Nigel Pedersen, MBBS
American Brain Foundation Clinical Research Training Fellowships
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
The Mammillary Region in Epilepsy? Investigation and Intervention
Mentor: Clifford Saper, MD, PhD, FAAN
Cosponsored by the American Academy of Neurology and the American Brain
Foundation
Michael Benatar, MBChB, DPhil
Clinical Research Training Fellowship Recipient
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
American Academy of Neurology Foundation and ALSA Clinical Research
Fellowship
For additional information about the program, please visit the
AAN site.
Residency at BIDMC is about discovery: Discovery about your interests and
talents,
but also discovery about the nervous system, how it goes wrong in
neurological disease, and what we can do to improve the outlook for our
patients.
Faculty at BIDMC work on research problems in almost all of the
subspecialties of neurology. They work on these problems at all levels. We
have more than a dozen
basic science research laboratories, investigating fields from Parkinson’s disease to epilepsy, sleep to
autism, and brain tumors to peripheral neuropathies to stroke
pathophysiology.
