Jaime Imitola, MD., FAAN Principal Investigator
Associate Professor
Dr. Imitola is a Board certified Neurologist with specialty in MS/Neuroimmunology focusing in highly active and progressive MS. He is the Director of the MS Center at UConn Health since July 2019. He completed fellowships in Multiple Sclerosis/Neuroimmunology, and Stem Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School. He trained at the Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, under Dr. Samia J. Khoury, MD Co-director of the Partners MS Center in collaboration with the labs of Evan Y. Snyder and Chris Walsh. He studied neural stem cells in the context of inflammation and MS and became Instructor in Neurology at HMS and Affiliated faculty of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) until 2008. He trained in clinical neurology and Multiple sclerosis at Temple University Hospital and Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience. Prior to joining UConn Health, Dr. Imitola was the founder/director of the Progressive MS Clinic, the Scarlet and Gray Multiple Sclerosis community and education symposium at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Imitola is a member and Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and an active member of the The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), presenting his work at the ISSCR annual meeting and the ISSCR international symposiums.
Associate Professor
Dr. Imitola is a Board certified Neurologist with specialty in MS/Neuroimmunology focusing in highly active and progressive MS. He is the Director of the MS Center at UConn Health since July 2019. He completed fellowships in Multiple Sclerosis/Neuroimmunology, and Stem Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School. He trained at the Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, under Dr. Samia J. Khoury, MD Co-director of the Partners MS Center in collaboration with the labs of Evan Y. Snyder and Chris Walsh. He studied neural stem cells in the context of inflammation and MS and became Instructor in Neurology at HMS and Affiliated faculty of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) until 2008. He trained in clinical neurology and Multiple sclerosis at Temple University Hospital and Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience. Prior to joining UConn Health, Dr. Imitola was the founder/director of the Progressive MS Clinic, the Scarlet and Gray Multiple Sclerosis community and education symposium at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Imitola is a member and Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and an active member of the The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), presenting his work at the ISSCR annual meeting and the ISSCR international symposiums.
Fumihiro Watanabe, PhD
Dr. Fumihiro (Fumi) Watanabe received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Tokyo in Japan. His thesis was titled "Anatomical and behavior for cerebellar Purkinje cell specific-FAK deficient mice (PC-FAK Mutant). Dr. Watanabe is developing new three-dimensional human cultures and organoids to model aspects of human neurodegeneration seen in in patients with MS and glioblastoma. In addition to studying new candidate molecules identified from genomic analysis that may mediate the impact on inflammation on the genetic programs of human and neural stem cells.
Dr. Charanpreet Padam MD is interested in studying the interactions of the immune and nervous systems with the help of human-based stem cells models. Her ambition is to improve the prognosis of patients with demyelinating diseases including progressive Multiple Sclerosis. She received her medical degree from Government Medical College, Amritsar. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and loves going on hikes with her dog, Mowgli.
Katie Julian MS2 is a medical student at Penn State College of Medicine, she has been part of the lab since 2017, when the Lab was at the Ohio State Wexner Medical center. She is interested in researching the prevalence of and health implications resulting from "stem cell tourism" in neurology. She has participated in both clinical and basic science projects in the lab. In her free time, she enjoys playing volleyball, running, traveling, and spending time with family.
She has two first author publications in the field of "stem cell tourism".
Julian, K et al Ann Neurol. 2020 Jul 7. doi: 10.1002/ana.25842.
Julian, K et al Semin Neurol. 2018 Apr;38(2):176-181
She has two first author publications in the field of "stem cell tourism".
Julian, K et al Ann Neurol. 2020 Jul 7. doi: 10.1002/ana.25842.
Julian, K et al Semin Neurol. 2018 Apr;38(2):176-181
"Timothy (Tim) Nolan MS2 is a medical student at UConn interested in improving three-dimensional cultures of organoids to improve research in demyelinating diseases. Tim has previously performed research in direct neuronal reprogramming from oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in the Lab of Akiko Nishiyama. Outside of research, Tim has written materials for and taught classes on the MCAT since 2017 and stays active by lifting weights and running.
Mentorship
Residents and Fellows:
Dr. Hamza Coban, MD
Medical Students
Nicholas Haberli, MSIII
Alumni last 5 years & Current Positions
Widjan Rai, MD 2015-2019
MS and Neuroimmunology Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
MS and Neuroimmunology Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Ethan Hollingsworth, MD/PHD Candidate
University of California, Irvine MSTP Program GRII (2015-2018) pursuing graduate thesis in the lab of Dr. Robert Hunt at UCI
University of California, Irvine MSTP Program GRII (2015-2018) pursuing graduate thesis in the lab of Dr. Robert Hunt at UCI
Dominic Julian, BS 2016-2019
Research Fellow Nationwide Children's Hospital
Research Fellow Nationwide Children's Hospital
Elli Schwartz 2016-2019
Environmental Public Health Ohio State University.
Environmental Public Health Ohio State University.
Thomas Mengesha MD (c) 2016-2019
MS I Ohio State University School of Medicine
MS I Ohio State University School of Medicine
Gianna D'Apolito 2016-2019
Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience major at The Ohio State University
Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience major at The Ohio State University
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Austin Schoeffler (2015-2018)
Natalie Squires (2017)
Nicholas Roe, BS Sriram Suvardula, BS International Visiting Scholar (IVS) Luay Mrad, MD 2020 Pain Medicine Fellowship, University of Vermont Jamil Khoury, MD 2020 Family Medicine, Case Western Cleveland. |