Home Department: Human Biology
Mentor: May Han, Neurology & Neurological Sciences

“Role of Central Nervous System Pericytes in Demyelination and Repair”

Breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and subsequent neuroinflammation is a major hallmark of demyelinating disorders like Multiple Sclerosis (MS). At this time, little is known about the role that pericytes, cells which wrap around the endothelial cells that line capillaries and venules, play in maintaining the structural integrity of the blood-brain barrier. By analyzing pericyte-deficient mice which are induced to mimic MS symptoms, Ezra hopes to elucidate the mechanism of demyelination and myelination repair in order to provide key insight into therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative diseases like MS.