UVa researchers hope better understanding of spinal cord cells will aid treatment – The Daily Progress

University of Virginia scientists are exploring why nerve cells die after spinal cord injuries research that they hope could improve treatments.

Jonathan Kipnis, and Kodi Ravichandran, professors at the UVa School of Medicine, have received $350,00 from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in support of their research, the university announced.

Using a probe developed by Ravichandran, the two researchers are planning to track nerve cells after they die and are swallowed up by immune cells, or phagocytes, that remove them from the body. They want to see what type of cells are involved in the bodys response to a spinal cord injury and how they work.

Knowing what cell type is the phagocyte at the site of damage would allow us to specifically target that cell type or subtype of cells to eat more of the cellular debris after the brain or spinal cord injury, said Ravichandran, chairman of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, in a news release.

The pairs funding is part of a $14 million effort from the institute for 29 interdisciplinary teams to explore the role of inflammation in various diseases.

Kipnis said in a news release Ravichandrans expertise in phagocytes complements his work as director of UVas Brain Immunology and Glia Center.

Merging complementary expertise and focusing on one common goal could lead to a real scientific breakthrough, said Kipnis, chairman of the Department of Neuroscience and director of UVAs Brain Immunology and Glia Center.

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UVa researchers hope better understanding of spinal cord cells will aid treatment - The Daily Progress