Director Clinical Proteomics Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital

Physician Investigator (Cl) Neurology, Mass General Research Institute

Associate Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School

MMSc Harvard Medical School

MD Boston University School of Medicine 1999

acute neurovascular injury; acute stroke therapy; brain ischemia; cerebrovascular disease; hemorrhagic disorders; matrix metalloproteinase 9; migraine; neurovascular pathophysiology; patent foramen ovule; pharmaco-proteomic profiles; proteomics; stroke

Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NINDS), the Clinical Proteomics Research Center (CPRC) explores the clinical applications of proteomic technology. The goals of the Clinical Proteomics Research Center are to explore neurovascular pathophysiology using a translational approach, to develop prognostic tools to guide clinical decision-making, and to discover new targets of therapeutic intervention at the bedside.

The CPRC has four main areas of focus in the application of proteomic technology to clinical problem solving in neurovascular disease.

1. Bedside sampling of acute neurovascular injury - with full-time dedicated clinical staff to ensure around-the-clock patient enrollment Samples are collected, prepped and analyzed in real-time.
2. Mapping of “pharmaco-proteomic” profiles - to identify the most relevant pathways associated with disease-specific clinical interventions – especially for treatment with a risk/benefit profile such as thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke, PFO related stroke intervention and hypothermic treatment.
3. Development of prognostic tools and novel biomarkers - to help triage clinical diagnosis and treatment in acute neurovascular injury. For example, working together with the Cardio-Neurology Clinic, the CPRC explores neurological disorders associated with congenital heart conditions such as PFO, to developing more effective approaches in caring for stroke patients.
4. Proteomic repository and database - Building a repository of proteomic data from patient and control plasma, CSF, urine for collaborative efforts and jump-start future research in neuroscience.