Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Gary Kohanbash, PhD, for his lead authorship on the cover article of the most recent issue of Neuron. Kohanbash is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery in the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine. The first author on the paper was Ruchira M. Jha, MD, MSc, of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, as well as our Safar Center for Resuscitation Research.
The article, titled, “A single-cell atlas deconstructs heterogeneity across multiple models in murine traumatic brain injury and identifies novel cell-specific targets,” was the result of a large collaboration of researchers from across the country, including Harvard Medical School, the University of California at San Francisco, and Pennsylvania State University, among others.
The researchers affiliated with our Department of Pediatrics included in the article include Dhivyaa Rajasundaram, PhD (Division of Health Informatics), Casey O’Brien, Dennis W. Simon, MD (Children’s Neuroscience Institute), and Patrick Kochanek, MD, MCCM (Safar Center).
In this research, Kohanbash and his collaborators investigate heterogeneity in traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in order to better deliver therapy treatments. This work presents the first large-scale murine single-cell atlas of response to TBI across a number of factors, including sex, brain region, and time from injury, aiming to deconstruct the heterogeneity of current understanding of TBI.
Early indications demonstrated that cell-level resolution was of significant importance, as results were unique to cell populations, injury models, and other observed factors. Ultimately, the researchers developed a searchable atlas called CEREBRI, where future efforts in TBI and other diseases with overlapping pathophysiology could be catalogued, collected, and referenced.
This foundational work will serve to help better target and individualize treatments for TBI and similar conditions in a way previously unconsidered.
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