Lepore Research

Angelo Lepore PhD
2011-present

I am a tenured full Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience in the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. I am also the Director of the Neuroscience Graduate (PhD) Program here at Thomas Jefferson University. I obtained my BS in Biology from Ursinus College in 2000 working in the lab of James Sidie on the effects of anesthetics on electric organ cells of the electric fish, Eigenmannia virescens. I completed my PhD in Neuroscience at Drexel University College of Medicine in 2005 in the lab of Itzhak Fischer, where I worked on developing therapeutic strategies for traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) using neural precursor cell transplantation. I completed my post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Neurology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2011 working in the labs of Nicholas Maragakis and Jeffrey Rothstein on astrocyte glutamate transporter dysfunction in the motor neuron disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Since starting my lab in 2011, my group has been focused on both understanding and therapeutically targeting degeneration and plasticity of the spinal cord and brain neural circuits that control respiratory dysfunction and chronic neuropathic pain after SCI. We are also interested in understanding how dysfunction of astrocytes (a major glial cell type of the nervous system) contributes to the pathogenesis of both SCI and ALS. In addition, we have been using various classes of stem and progenitor cells to both model these diseases in vitro and to develop therapies in vivo using transplantation. My lab has expertise in a variety of areas, including SCI, neurodegenerative disease, respiratory neurobiology, neuropathic pain, axon regeneration, neuroprotection, astrocyte biology, motor neurons, glutamate transporters, stem cells, transplantation, and gene therapy.

I am constantly trying to find ways to expand and evolve my laboratory and the work we conduct to maintain our research at the forefront of our fields of study. Specifically, I am always thinking about how I can evolve my work into new areas that will keep me excited, provide new directions for the field, stimulate my trainees to pursue new questions with innovative approaches (even if this makes them intellectually uncomfortable) and, practically, keep my lab competitive in the current environment of funding and publishing. I take great pleasure in shaking things up; I strive to probe deeper the scientific questions that we are currently addressing, but I also love to move in new directions that maintain my passion for research.

The mentoring of students and other trainees in my lab is truly one of the (if not the most) rewarding parts of my job. I have been the research advisor to a long list of PhD, MS, medical and undergraduate students. I feel that the environment created in my lab by these trainees makes for the stimulating place it is. It is wonderful to witness their evolution and success; it brings me great happiness, which is one of the rewards of this challenging job that is often associated with failure with grant reviews, experiments, manuscript reviews, etc. Plus, their important contributions have contributed enormously to the success of my research program. My goal is to continue to run a vibrant and exciting lab full of trainees and, importantly, to continue dedicating myself to their career development and success.

I have devoted a significant amount of my time and energy to the scientific training of students here at Jefferson. I am currently the Director of the Neuroscience PhD Program. I have been the director of multiple graduate student courses, including Advanced Topics in Neurodegenerative Diseases (a course that I developed) and the Neuroscience Graduate Program Journal Club. I provide a large number of lectures each year for many courses, including Cellular Neurophysiology, Advanced Topics in Neurodegenerative Disease, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, Profiles in Neuroscience Research, Genetics of Model Organisms, Foundations of Biomedical Science, Neuroanatomy for second-year medical students, Planning & Writing a Research Grant, Neurobiology (at Arcadia University), Spinal Cord Neuroanatomy for the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation residency program, and Synaptic Neuroscience for the Psychiatry & Human Behavior residency program.

I am also currently a standing member of two federal study sections: the NST-2 study section for the NIH; and the Veterans Affairs (VA) Rehabilitation Research and Development Service SCI and Pain panel. I also serve on a number of university committees here at Jefferson, including the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).

Biswarup Ghosh, PhD
Post-doctoral fellow (2015-18), Research Associate (2018-19) Instructor (2019-present)

Respiratory neural circuit plasticity after cervical SCI

I am exploring innovative therapeutic options to address respiratory compromise following spinal cord injury (SCI) using gene therapy, cell transplantation, pharmacological interventions and novel biomaterial-based drug delivery systems. My work using these approaches is focused on targeting neuroprotection and axon regeneration to preserve and restore, respectively, diaphragm function after cervical SCI.

Lan Cheng, PhD
Post-doctoral fellow (2018-2019), Research Associate (2019-2021), Instructor (2021-present)

Regeneration of respiratory axons after SCI

My work is directed at achieving an understanding of circuit plasticity mechanisms and treatments in the context of respiratory dysfunction in the chronically-injured spinal cord.

R. Vivian Allahyari, PhD
Post-doctoral fellow, 2019-present

Astrocyte subtype transplantation

I am examining how transplantation of diverse cell populations can be used for therapeutic purposes after SCI. In particular, I am interested in using transplantation of specific astrocyte subtypes for promoting respiratory circuit reconnectivity following SCI.

Eric Brown
PhD student in Neuroscience Graduate Program, 2016-present

Dorsal horn neuron subtypes in neuropathic pain following SCI

As the dorsal horn in comprised of a large number of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal subtypes, as well as a variety of microcircuits that are involved in different sensory modalities, I am working to characterize which of these neuron populations become hyperexcitable in animal models of cervical SCI-induced neuropathic. I am also studying the functional role of these neurons in neuropathic pain behaviors after SCI using neuron subtype-selective silencing approaches.

Nicolette Heinsinger
PhD student in Neuroscience Graduate Program, 2017-present

EphB2 signaling in SCI-induced neuropathic pain

I am interested in how plasticity of excitatory synapses contributes to neuropathic pain after SCI. Specifically, I am studying how modulation of EphB receptors, which are known to interact with excitatory glutamatergic NMDA receptors at synapses, impacts SCI-induced neuropathic pain.

David Jaffe
MD/PhD student: PhD student in Neuroscience Graduate Program, 2021-present

Neuron subtype-specific manipulation of EphB signaling in SCI-induced neuropathic pain

Use of various mouse genetic tools to examine effects on SCI-induced neuropathic pain of manipulating (1) EphB expression, (2) EphB kinase activity and (3) EphB-NMDA receptor interaction in the spinal cord dorsal horn in a neuron subtype-specific manner.

Samantha Thomas
MD/PhD student: PhD student in Neuroscience Graduate Program, 2021-present

Promoting circuit-specific synaptic connectivity after SCI

Target neuron subtype-specific synaptomodulatory molecules to selectively promote synaptic reconnectivity of defined circuits following SCI.