Current Research Funding:

1) Mitochondrial transplantation strategies to promote recovery after spinal cord injury
Principle Investigator: A.G. Rabchevsky (04/01/16 – 09/30/18)
Co-Investigators: S.P. Patel
Agency: National Institutes of Health-NINDS
Type: R21
This proposal comparatively assesses transplantation of mitochondria derived from two cell-type sources (autologous muscle vs cultured cells) in order to provide additional analysis and outcome measures for long-term behavioral studies in order to generate robust pre-clinical data.

2) Continuous sensor-based home-cage recordings for SCI research
Principal Investigator: S. Hochman, Emory University (08/31/16–08/30/18)
Co-Investigators: S.P. Patel and A.G. Rabchevsky 10% and 2%
Agency: Craig H. Neilsen Foundation
Type: Senior Investigator Award
These studies are designed to leverage affordable miniaturized sensor technologies that report on an individual’s physio-behavioral variables to develop an animal-model prototype – in a home-cage – to test its efficacy in assessing physiologic dysfunction after SCI

3) Changing serotonin receptor 2C splice variants to combat spasticity after spinal cord injury
Principal Investigator (Dual-PI): A.G. Rabchevsky (04/01/17 – 03/31/19) 5%
Principal Investigator (Dual-PI): S. Stamm 5%
Key Personnel: S.P. Patel 10%
Agency: National Institutes of Health-NINDS
Type: R21
These studies will employ a single pharmacological intervention to attenuate muscular spasticity in a chronic SCI model. The overall goal will be to use intrathecal injections of oligonucleotides to inactivate constitutively active serotonergic (5HT2C) receptors thought to underlie tail muscle spasticity in chronic stages of SCI utilizing a complete S2 transection SCI model in adult rats.

4) Pioglitazone fosters neuroprotection via specific interaction with mitoNEET
Principle Investigator: A.G. Rabchevsky (07/01/17 – 06/30/20) 15%
Co-Investigators: S.P. Patel, P.G. Sullivan and J.C. Gensel 55%, 10% and 5%
Agency: The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation - Senior Research Grant
Type: Senior Investigator Grant
These studies will directly test whether pioglitazone affords neuroprotection following SCI by directly ameliorating mitochondrial dysfunction via interactions with mitoNEET using a novel transgenic model (mitoNEET null), as well as a novel specific mitoNEET ligand and an antagonist, alone and in tandem, to mechanistically test our hypotheses.

5) Mitochondrial transplantation and alternative biofuel administration to treat spinal cord injury
Principle Investigator: S.P. Patel (08/15/17 – 02/14/19) 15%
Co-Investigators: A.G. Rabchevsky 2%
Agency: Center for Clinical and Translational Science
Type: CCTS Pilot Award
These studies will determine whether acute administration of an alternative biofuel for maintaining mitochondrial bioenergetics after contusion spinal cord injury (SCI), in combination with acute or delayed intraspinal transplantation of isolated muscle mitochondria into injured spinal cords results in improved cellular respiration and consequent sparing of host tissue.

6) Chronic muscle weakness in sepsis survivors.
Principle Investigator: H. Saito (09/01/17 - 10/31/22) 30%
Co-Investigators: S.P. Patel 20%
Agency: NIH-NINDS
Type: R01
These studies will establish mitochondrial damage and dysfunction in sepsis-surviving mice, investigate sarcomeric protein damage and its causal mechanisms long after recovery from sepsis, and formulate therapeutic strategies to ameliorate post-sepsis chronic muscle weakness.