I am a medical student at UCSF School of Medicine. Through a Genentech Fellowship and a Howard Hughes Fellowship, I have extended my education to perform full-time research in the lab for two years. The project I am involved with examines the role of p38 MAP kinase in microglial activation and brain injury in a model of neonatal stroke. P38 MAP kinase is a signaling molecule that becomes phosphorylated and activated under stress conditions, including ischemia and hypoxia. In turn, p38 activates downstream transcription factors that may lead to activation of inflammatory cells and apoptosis. We use a P7 rat suture-occlusion and reperfusion model to locate and quantify p38 phosphorylation in the injured brain following reperfusion. In addition, we quantify the accumulation of microglia and injury outcome in pups after administration of SB203580 or minocycline, which inhibit p38 activity, compared to pups treated with vehicle alone. This research addresses questions about the pathophysiology of reperfusion injury following neonatal stroke, as well as potential therapeutic strategies for mitigating damage to the developing brain.
