Anthony E. Kline, PhD

  • Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Kline is a professor in the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He also holds secondary appointments in the Departments of Critical Care Medicine and Psychology. He is an Associate Director of rehabiliation research at the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research and is also a member of the training faculty at both the Center for Neuroscience and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition.

Kline’s research includes neurobehavioral recovery and learning after experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI). Therapeutic strategies that include pharmacotherapy and environmental enrichment are utilized alone or in combination in an attempt to restore function and/or attenuate TBI-induced deficits. Another interest is the evaluation of pharmacological agents that may hinder the recovery process after TBI (e.g., antipsychotics). The long-term goals of the laboratory are to develop therapies that facilitate functional recovery after TBI and to elucidate potential mechanisms for the observed effects. Additionally, the evaluation of therapies shown to benefit outcome in adult models of TBI are being investigated in pediatric models. Kline’s research is funded by the NIH.

Kline is an active research mentor for students at all levels of training. Several of his recent trainees have gone on to graduate school or medical programs.

Memberships in Professional and Scientific Societies

  • Society for Neuroscience, 1990- Present
  • National Neurotrauma Society, 1990- Present
  • Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, 2003- Present
  • Association of Academic Physiatrists, 2003-2005
  • Women in Neurotrauma Research, 2004- Present
  • Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, 2005- Present
  • American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitiation, 2007- Present
  • International brain Injury Association, 2008-Present
  • North American Brain Injury Society, 2011-Presnt
  • European Brain and Behavior Society, 2017-Present

Education & Training

  • BA, Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1989
  • MA, Psychology, University of Colorado, 1996
  • PhD, Psychology, University of Colorado, 1998

Selected Publications

*Wallisch JS, Feldman K, Alexander H, Jha RM, Farr GW, McGuirk PR, Kline AE, Jackson TC, Pelletier MF, Clark RSB, Kochanek PM, Manole MD. The aquaporin-4 inhibitor AER-271 blocks cerebral edema and improves early outcome in a pediatric model of asphyxial cardiac arrest. Pediatric Res., 85:511-517, 2019.

*Bao GC, Bleimeister IH, Zimmerman LA, Wellcome JL, Niesman PJ, Radabaugh HL, Bondi CO, Kline AE. Intermittent administration of haloperidol after cortical impact injury neither impedes spontaneous recovery nor attenuates the efficacy of environmental enrichment. J Neurotrauma, 36:1606-1614, 2019. 

*Bleimeister IH, Wolff M, Lam TR, Brooks DM, Patel R, Cheng JP, Bondi CO, Kline AE. Environmental enrichment and amantadine confer individual but nonadditive enhancements in motor and spatial learning after controlled cortical impact injury. Brain Res., 1714:227-233, 2019.

Kochanek PM, Jackson TC, Jha RM, Clark RSB, Okonkwo DO, Bayir H, Poloyac SM, Wagner AK, Empey PE, Conley YP, Bell MJ, Kline AE, Bondi CO, Simon DW, Carlson SW, Puccio AM, Horvat CM, Au AK, Elmer J, Treble-Barna A, Ikonomovic MM, Shutter LA, Taylor L, Stern AM, Graham SH, Kagan V, Jackson EK, Wisniewski SR, Dixon CE. Paths to successful translation of new therapies for severe TBI in the golden age of traumatic brain injury research: A Pittsburgh vision.  J Neurotrauma 37:2353-2371, 2020.

*Díaz-Chávez A, Lajud N, Roque A, Cheng JP, Meléndez-Herrera E, Valdéz-Alarcón JJ, Bondi CO, Kline AE. Early life stress increases vulnerability to the sequelae of pediatric mild traumatic brain injury. Exp Neurol., 329:113318, 2020.

*Moschonas EH, Leary JB, Memarzadeh K, Bou-Abboud CE, Folweiler KA, Monaco CM, Cheng JP, Kline AE, Bondi CO. Disruption of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons after traumatic brain injury does not compromise environmental enrichment-mediated cognitive benefits. Brain Res., 1751:147175, 2021.

Manole MD, Hook M, Nicholas M, Nelson BP, Liu A, Stezoski Q, Rowley A, Cheng JP, Alexander H, Moschonas EH, Bondi CO, Kline AE. Preclinical neurorehabilitation with environmental enrichment confers cognitive and histological benefits in a model of pediatric asphyxial cardiac arrest. Exp Neurol., 335:113522, 2021.

Lajud N, Roque A, Cheng JP, Bondi CO, Kline AE. Early life stress preceding mild pediatric traumatic brain injury increases neuroinflammation but does not exacerbate impairment of cognitive flexibility during adolescence. J Neurotrauma 38:411-421, 2021.

Gutova M, Cheng JP, Tsaturyan L, Adhikarla V, Tsaturyan L, Barish ME, Rockne RC, Moschonas EH, Bondi CO, Kline AE. Intranasally administered L-Myc immortalized human neural stem cells migrate to primary and distal sites of damage after cortical impact and enhance spatial learning. Stem Cells Int., 2021:5549381, 2021.

De la Tremblaye PB, Wellcome JL, Wiley K, Lomahan CA, Moschonas EH, Cheng JP, Bondi CO, Kline AE. Chronic unpredictable stress during adolescence protects against adult traumatic brain injury-induced affective and cognitive deficits. Brain Res 1767:147544, 2021.

Anderson EA, Morera A, Kour S, Cherry JD, Ramesh N, Gleixner A, Schwartz J, Ebmeier C, Old W, Donnelly C, Cheng JP, Kline AE, Kofler J, Stein T, Pandey UB. Traumatic injury results in functional impairments in nucleocytoplasmic transport and leads to TDP-43 pathology. eLife 10:e67587, 2021.

Academic and Research Interests

  • Brain
  • Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Environmental Enrichment
  • Cognition
  • Motor
  • Plasiticiry 
  • Recovery of Function