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Editorial Board

Editors-in-Chief

Lester R Drewes, PhD, University of Minnesota, USA
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Lester Drewes is currently Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Minnesota Duluth Medical School, directs the Academic Health Center Duluth graduate programs, and chairs the Brain Barriers Research Center advisory committee.  Following Ph.D. studies at the University of Minnesota (1970), Dr. Drewes conducted postdoctoral research with Professor David D. Gilboe at the University of Wisconsin in the area of neuroscience and in 1976 began his academic career at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Duluth.  In 1992, Dr. Drewes co-hosted with A. Lorris Betz, MD the first CVB conference in Duluth and served as President of the International Brain Barriers Society from 2006 to 2017.  Dr. Drewes is the recipient of a number of awards including the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.  He currently serves on the editorial boards of biochemical and neurochemical journals and on several review panels.  Dr. Drewes lists fourteen review chapters, one book and more than 100 peer reviewed publications and a similar number of meeting presentations and seminars.
Email: ldrewes@d.umn.edu

Mark Hamilton, MDCM, FRCSC, FAANS, University of Calgary, Canada 
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Dr. Mark G Hamilton, MDCM, FRCSC, FAANS, is from the University of Calgary, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Neurosurgery. Dr. Hamilton did his Bachelor of Science degree (with distinction) at the University of Toronto and then graduated from McGill University Medical School in 1983. He did his Neurosurgery Residency at the University of Calgary and received his FRCSC in 1991. He did Fellowship training in the cerebrovascular, skull base, and pediatric Neurosurgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and joined the University of Calgary Department of Clinical Neurosciences in 1994, where he is currently a Professor of Neurosurgery with additional appointments in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Pediatrics. He was the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery from 2002-2011. He is head of the University of Calgary Adult Hydrocephalus Program, which he established with the University of Calgary Adult Hydrocephalus Clinic in 2008. Dr. Hamilton is the chair of the Adult Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (AHCRN), which has eight clinical sites in three countries, Past-President of the Hydrocephalus Society (International Society for Hydrocephalus and Cerebrospinal Fluid Disorders (ISHCSF)), a member of the Board of Directors of the Hydrocephalus Association (HA), Vice-Chair of the Medical Advisory Board (MAB) of HA, a member of the Board of Directors of Hydrocephalus Canada,  and a member of the Medical Advisory Board of Hydrocephalus Canad. He has been a past co-chair of the Journal of Neurosurgery Editorial Board and is a member of the Editorial Boards of Neurosurgery and the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. His current main clinical and research interests are diagnosing and managing hydrocephalus in adults.
Email: mghamilton.hydro@gmail.com

Richard F Keep, PhD, University of Michigan, USA
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Richard F. Keep, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan. He is also Director of the Crosby Neurosurgical Laboratories and Associate Chair for Research in Neurosurgery. His main research areas are transport at the blood-brain and blood-CSF barriers, effects of neurological disorders on the barriers, and hemorrhagic and ischemic brain injury (stroke).
Email: rkeep@med.umich.edu
 

Founding Editor

Hazel C Jones, PhD, King's College London, UK 
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Hazel Jones is Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London and lately Courtesy Research Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida. She received a BSc degree in Physiology (University College London), MSc in pharmacology (Oxford) and PhD in Zoology (University of Hull). From 1991 she was Research Professor at the University of Florida. During her career she researched on comparative and developmental aspects of cerebrospinal fluid circulation, brain electrolyte homeostasis, and rodent models of inherited congenital hydrocephalus. In 2004 she returned to the UK and started as Editor in Chief of the journal Fluids and Barriers of the CNS (previously Cerebrospinal Fluid Research), a role in which she served till 2023.
Email: hazelcjones@btinternet.com 

Honorary Advisors

Gert Fricker, PhD, University of Heidelberg, Germany 
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Dr Gert Fricker is Professor at the Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg and Director of the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology. He studied chemistry and medicine at the University of Freiburg, Germany and received his PhD in biochemistry. His research interests are drugs transporters in epithelial and endothelial barriers, as well as drug targeting and novel drug delivery systems.


Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes, PhD, Uppsala University, Sweden 
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Dr Hammarlund-Udenaes is Professor of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics since 1999, since 2021 Professor Emerita. She received her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1984 from Uppsala University. She has supervised 22 PhD’s and published more than 140 original articles. She became an AAPS Fellow in 2005. Her research is focused on the pharmacokinetics of blood-brain barrier transport of drugs in relation to central effects and side-effects. The influence of drug transport processes on drug delivery to the brain is theoretically as well as experimentally studied with microdialysis, PET and other methods. In vitro methods and new concepts for brain drug delivery are developed based on in vivo principles.
E-mail: mhu@farmaci.uu.se

Conrad E Johanson, PhD, Brown University, USA
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Dr. Conrad Johanson is Professor of Neurosurgery at the Brown University Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island. His basic transport research encompasses comparative analyses of the blood-CSF interface (choroid plexus) and the blood-brain barrier at various stages of development and aging. Barrier transport and permeability investigations are also done for neurodegenerative disorders such as ischemia, hyperthermia, hypertension, brain trauma, hydrocephalus and Alzheimer's disease. In addition his clinical neuroscience research group investigates CSF formation and reabsorption, and the impact of altered CSF dynamics on brain metabolism, extracellular fluid composition and cognition. Peptides such as arginine vasopressin, atrial natriuretic peptide and basic fibroblast growth factor are being evaluated for their effects on fluid production by choroid plexus. Another research emphasis is to devise new ways to deliver drugs and therapeutic agents to periventricular neurogenic niches, the hippocampus and hypothalamus. The goal of this CSF homeostasis laboratory is to delineate epigenetic factors that modulate the expression of ion and organic solute transporters such as the Na pump, Na-K-Cl cotransport, P-gp, RAGE, LRP-1 and MRP in both the cerebral capillary endothelium and choroid plexus epithelial cells. Finer pharmacologic control of transport across the CNS barriers should lead to more effective control of brain diseases.

Mark G Luciano, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, USA
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Mark G Luciano is director of the Johns Hopkins Center for CSF Disorders and Transitional Center, Baltimore, and Neurosurgeon affiliated to the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He was at the Cleveland Clinic Department of Neurosurgery from 1993 after training in general neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania and in pediatric neurosurgery at Harvard’s Boston Children’s Hospital. He received additional training in research through a PhD from Tulane University and a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Luciano treats both children and adults with neurological congenital anomalies, hydrocephalus, cerebral cysts, tumors, craniofacial anomalies, tethered cord, Chiari malformation and cerebral palsy. Dr. Luciano directs the Neuroendoscopy program and also initiated the first multidisciplinary clinic in the USA to diagnose and treat normal pressure hydrocephalus. His NIH-funded experimental research has centered on the brain’s adaptation to the chronic compression and hypoxia of hydrocephalus and on the dynamic relationship between the CSF and vascular systems. He has mentored PhD graduate students in both engineering and neuroscience and his experimental work also has resulted in invention and development of a novel device intended to increase cerebral blood flow.

Edward A Neuwelt, MD, Oregon Health & Science University, USA
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Edward A. Neuwelt, M.D. is a Professor in the Departments of Neurology and  Neurosurgery at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland Veterans  Affairs Medical Center in Portland, Oregon.  Dr Neuwelt is certified by the  American Board of Neurological Surgery and is a fully trained neuro-oncologist.   Currently Dr Neuwelt is a Professor in the departments of Neurology and  Neurological Surgery. With regard to the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) Program, Dr Neuwelt has overseen the expansion of the program to eight institutions across  the US and internationally including Canada and Israel, as well as the annual  BBB Consortium meeting funded by an R13 grant.  Dr Neuwelt is the principal  investigator of three NIH R01 grants, one VA Merit Review grant, and a DOD Center of Excellence award. 
E-mail: neuwelte@ohsu.edu
Web page: www.ohsu.edu/bbb

Professor John Pickard, CBE, FMedSci, University of Cambridge, UK
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John Pickard is Emeritus Professor of Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Clinical Neurosciences, former Chairman of the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre and Honorary Director of the NIHR Brain Injury Medtech Cooperative.  He is dedicated to advancing the care of patients with brain injury of various types (trauma, coma, stroke, hydrocephalus) through studies of pathophysiology including multimodality bedside monitoring, PET and MR imaging and new treatments. Discoveries have included a definition of how early insults to the brain in both childhood and later life may lead to later changes and cognitive outcome, new ways of detecting when the blood supply to critical areas of the brain become at risk, which treatments may be helpful and which counterproductive, detection of awareness in prolonged disorders of consciousness (fMR, EEG), which parts of the brain are affected in normal pressure hydrocephalus and novel treatment for the pseudotumor cerebri syndrome.

Pierre-Olivier Couraud, PhD, Institut Cochin, France 
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Pierre-Olivier Couraud, PhD, is a cell biologist who has been working on the biology of brain endothelium for about 25 years. He is well recognized in the field for his contribution to the production and diffusion of immortalized brain endothelial cell lines as in vitro models of the blood-brain barrier: rat brain endothelial cell lines (RBE4, GPNT), followed by the widely used human brain endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3. His scientific interests are focused on the infiltration of leukocytes across the blood-brain barrier during Multiple sclerosis or Stroke and on the molecular mechanisms of the regulation of tight junctions at the blood-brain barrier.
He is co-author of more than 250 peer-reviewed articles, Head of the Institut Cochin (INSERM, CNRS, University of Paris, France) a large Research Center dedicated to basic research in biology as well as therapeutic applications. He is currently Chairman of the INSERM Scientific Advisory Board.
 

Associate Editors

Bjoern Bauer, PhD, University of Kentucky, USA
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Dr. Bjoern Bauer is Associate Professor in the College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky. Dr. Bauer received a B.S. in Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences/Pharmacology from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and then conducted work as Postdoctoral Fellow at the NIH/NIEHS in Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. Dr. Bauer’s research focus is on the regulation of blood-brain barrier function in epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and brain cancer.


Anne Benninghaus, MSc, Aachen University, Germany
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In 2015, Anne Benninghaus received her Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with a specialisation in Medical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and made it onto the Dean's list in the top 5% of her class. She has been involved in modelling CSF dynamics for over nine years. Anne currently works as a research associate at the Department of Medical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, where she is the team leader for "CSF Biomechanics". Her research focuses on in vitro and in silico modelling of CSF dynamics to investigate and understand the underlying fluid mechanics, especially with regard to the aetiology of normal pressure hydrocephalus and the testing of alternative therapy options.

Matthew Campbell, PhD, Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland 
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Dr Matthew Campbell graduated from University College Dublin (UCD) in 2006 with a PhD in Biochemistry followed by Post-doctoral research in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in Human Molecular Genetics (2006-2012). He has published extensively on the use of RNA interference (RNAi) to modulate levels of distinct tight junction proteins at the blood-brain barrier/inner blood retina barrier (BBB/iBRB) in vivo. Additionally, he has published numerous articles focused on understanding the molecular pathology of diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Alzheimer's disease, Schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  He leads the Neurovascular Genetics Research group based in the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at TCD where he is also a lecturer in Human Genetics.  
In 2013, he was awarded Science Foundation Ireland's (SFI) most prestigious prize for young researchers, the President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (PIYRA) in relation to his BBB based research.  In the same year, he was awarded the Genentech/ARVO research fellowship for his ophthalmology focused work related to AMD.  This work led to numerous papers including Nature Medicine (2012, 2014) and Science Translational Medicine (2014) describing the therapeutic potential for IL-18 and its use in treating patients with wet AMD. 
For more information see: www.bbb2014dublin.com.

Benjamin D. Elder, MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic Rochester, USA
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Benjamin D. Elder, MD, PhD, is a neurosurgeon who is fellowship-trained in complex spinal surgery and spinal oncology. Additionally, he completed an orthopedic surgery fellowship in spinal deformity surgery. He specializes in the treatment of adult spinal deformity, scoliosis surgery, and revision spine surgery of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine. He also has extensive experience in the surgical management of a variety of spinal conditions, including spinal tumors, spinal stenosis, neck and back pain, herniated discs, and pinched nerves, and holds particular expertise in the treatment of normal pressure hydrocephalus. His goal is to work with each patient individually to develop the least invasive treatment to improve their pain and function, ranging from nonsurgical management to major reconstructive surgeries. His clinical interests are focused on the following areas:

  • Degenerative spine pathology
  • Complex adult spinal deformities
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Scoliosis/kyphosis
  • Flat-back syndrome
  • Spine tumors
  • Spinal cord tumors
  • Spinal fusion
  • Herniated discs
  • Craniocervical junction pathology
  • Normal pressure hydrocephalus
  • Tissue engineering strategies for spinal fusion
  • Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering strategies for the spine

Dr. Elder is a neurosurgeon clinician-scientist, and is the principal investigator of the Mayo Clinic Stem Cell Therapeutics and Tissue Engineering Laboratory. His research is focused on developing new regenerative medicine and tissue engineering approaches using stem cells and biomaterials for repair of the bone and cartilage of the spine. Additionally, he has significant expertise in the management and optimization of bone health and osteoporosis for patients undergoing spinal surgery in order to maximize the benefits of surgery.

Xavier Declèves, PharmD, PhD, University Paris Descartes, France
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Xavier Declèves, Pharm D, PhD is full Professor of Pharmacokinetics, Faculty of Pharmacy, the University of Paris Descartes, France. He received a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences/Pharmacokinetics from the University of Paris Descartes, France. He is now the head of the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology platform at the Cochin Hospital, Assistance-Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France and from 2014 the team leader of the team “Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Targets of the Blood-Brain Barrier”. Prof Declèves has made contributions in the expression, activity and regulation of drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters at the blood-brain barrier under drug exposure and pathological situations and their roles in neuropharmacokinetics.

Carolyn Harris, PhD, Wayne State University, USA
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Carolyn Harris is currently an Associate Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She is broadly interested in understanding neuroinflammation and cell-biomaterial interactions in neurological conditions.  Using translational research, bench top 3D culture models, and high-throughput microfluidic models, Dr. Harris works to understand how local environments impact how and why failure of chronic indwelling devices occur when implanted in the brain. Her laboratory is currently studying these concepts pertinent to hydrocephalus, specifically focused on the influence of variable degrees of neuroinflammation and CSF dynamics and how they dictate shunt obstruction. Dr. Harris received her bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and her PhD from the University of Utah. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Seattle Children’s Research Institute’s Center for Integrative Brain Research.

Albert M. Isaacs, MD, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, USA

Nathalie Jurisch-Yaksi, PhD, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
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Nathalie Jurisch-Yaksi is a group leader at the Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Her research program aims at understanding how fluid flow and cilia regulate organ development and physiology, with an emphasis on the nervous system. To achieve this, her laboratory uses state-of-the-art cellular and molecular biology, genetics, microscopy, fluid dynamics, neural imaging, behavioral assays and quantitative data analysis in the genetic model organism zebrafish. Her research interests include cilia, fluid flow, brain development, ependymal cells, choroid plexus, live imaging, hydrocephalus, and ciliopathies

Ville Leinonen, MD, PhD, Kuopio University Hospital, Finland 
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Ville Leinonen is Professor of Neurosurgery in University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and Kuopio University Hospital (KUH). He received his MD in 2002 and PhD in physiology in 2004 from University of Kuopio, Finland. His research interests include idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH), neurodegenerative diseases in relation with iNPH, and spinal disorders. He is Director of KUH NPH Research Group (www.uef.fi/nph).


Bryn Martin, PhD, University of Idaho, USA
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Dr. Martin serves as Adjunct Associate Professor of Mechanical, Chemical, and Biological Engineering at University of Idaho (2015-present) and Vice President of Research, Precision Delivery, and Cerebrospinal Fluid Sciences at Alcyone Therapeutics (2020-present).  From 2012-15 Dr. Martin served as the first Director of the Conquer Chiari Research Center at University of Idaho.  He completed post-doctoral training from 2009-2012 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Martin's research focuses on investigation of CSF dynamics in health, disease, and therapeutics.   Specific areas of expertise include Chiari malformation, syringomyelia, intrathecal drug delivery and CSF filtration, astronaut eye biomechanics, in vitro and computational fluid dynamics modeling of CSF, in vivo imaging of CSF, and medical device research and development.  Dr. Martin has served as Principal Investigator for research funded by National Institute of Health (NIH), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), industry and foundations. He also contributes as a scientific advisory board member for industry and foundations.

Nanna MacAulay, DMSci, PhD, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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Nanna MacAulay is a Professor at the Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. She carried out her graduate studies at McGill University, Montreal, Canada and University of Copenhagen, Denmark on membrane transport of salt and water. Following a post-doctoral position in neurophysiology at University of Copenhagen, Professor MacAulay established her own research group at University of Copenhagen when she was appointed associate professor in 2007. The focus of Professor MacAulay’s research is the molecular mechanisms underlying brain water and ion homeostasis with a special interest in cerebrospinal fluid production and ion/water flux across the cerebral endothelium and the regulation thereof.

James (Pat) P McAllister, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, USA
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James P. McAllister II, PhD is Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Washington University and the Saint Louis Children’s Hospital. His interdisciplinary approach includes a variety of translational research initiatives to advance understanding of the pathophysiology of hydrocephalus and develop improved treatments for this insidious disorder. Dr McAllister received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1976, and following postdoctoral training at the University of Vermont School of Medicine, has held staff positions at the UCLA Mental Retardation Research Center, Temple University School of Medicine, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University, and the University of Utah prior to joining Washington University in July, 2014. Dr McAllister has dedicated nearly 31 years to the study of hydrocephalus, and recently was given the Robert H. Pudenz Prize for Excellence Cerebrospinal Fluid Physiology and Hydrocephalus by the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery. In addition to advancing our understanding of the neuronal damage that occurs in the hydrocephalic brain, his introduction of shunting experiments in the mid-eighties has contributed to what is known about the potential for recovery after treatment. Working closely with bioengineers and pediatric neurosurgeons, he also explores treatments that could supplement surgical approaches (cerebrospinal fluid shunting) by protecting neurons or promoting regeneration in the hydrocephalic brain, as well as developing shunt systems that resist cellular obstruction.
"As a traditional neurobiologist with a fundamental interest in neural tube defects, my research includes a variety of interdisciplinary, translational approaches to advance understanding of the pathophysiology of hydrocephalus and develop improved treatments for this disorder. Working closely with neuroscientists, neurosurgeons and bioengineers, I investigate the neuronal damage that occurs in the hydrocephalic brain and explore treatments that could supplement surgical approaches by protecting cells, reducing neuroinflammation, or promoting regeneration in the hydrocephalic brain. I evaluate the functional effects of ventricular shunting and endoscopic third ventriculostomy and choroid plexus cauterization, analyse brain compliance using magnetic resonance elastography in patients and animal models, and reveal the pathophysiology of post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus. I also collaborate with biomedical engineers and small companies to help develop shunt systems that resist cellular obstruction and monitoring systems that noninvasively detect cerebrospinal fluid flow and intracranial pressure. Finally, I actively mentor a wide variety of students at all educational levels."

Kent-Andre Mardal, PhD, University of Oslo, Norway
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Professor Kent-Andre Mardal graduated from the University of Oslo in 1999 in applied and industrial mathematics. He obtained his PhD in 2003 at Simula Research Laboratory / University of Oslo, developing numerical methods with applications to fluid mechanics.
His research interests concern mathematical modelling of the fluid flows of the brain in health, disease and during ageing. Particular focus the last years has been the interaction between the cerebrospinal fluid and both the macro- and micro-circulation. 

Sumio Ohtsuki, PhD, Kumamoto University, Japan
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Dr. Sumio Ohtsuki is currently Professor at Kumamoto University. He received a Ph.D. degree in Life Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Tokyo in 1996. He completed a Postdoctoral training in Molecular Genetics and Developmental Biology research at University of California from 1996 to 1999. He was appointed Assistant Professor in Tohoku University in 2000, Associate Professor of Tohoku University in 2003, and Professor of Kumamoto University in 2012. Dr. Ohtsuki received New Investigator Award in Asian Pacific Region from International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX) in 2008, Meritorious Manuscript Award from American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in 2010 and Ebert Prize from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) in 2020. His major research interests are regulation of transport and tight junctions at the blood-brain barrier, drug delivery to the brain and quantitative proteomics of membrane proteins.
E-mail: sohtsuki@kumamoto-u.ac.jp
Web page: www.ohtsuki-lab.jp

Joel Pachter, PhD, University of Connecticut Health Center, US
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Dr. Pachter initially trained at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, in Milan, Italy, before pursuing his Ph.D. studies in axonal transport in the Department of Pharmacology at The New York University School of Medicine. After obtaining his Ph.D., Dr. Pachter completed a NIH-sponsored postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Physiological Chemistry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, studying the mechanisms of tubulin gene autoregulation. He then accepted a faculty position in the Department of Physiology (now Cell Biology) at the University of Connecticut Health Center, where he has remained and was promoted to Full Professor in 2003. Dr. Pachter's major research interests are the blood–brain barrier and neuroinflammation. Most recently, he has turned his attention toward the emerging technique of laser capture microdissection, applying this toward exploring gene regulation of CNS barriers in situ. Dr. Pachter is also on the editorial board of Microvascular Research, and currently sits on a study section at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He additionally serves as ad hoc reviewer for the Brain Injuries and Neurovascular Pathologies study section at the National Institutes of Health.

Steven T. Proulx, PhD, University of Bern, Switzerland
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Dr. Steven T. Proulx attended SUNY- Binghamton University and was awarded a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1998. He received a Master’s of Science in Biomechanical Engineering in May of 1999 from Stanford University. After 4 years working as an engineer outside academia, he reentered graduate school at the University of Rochester in 2003 in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He was awarded a Sproull Fellowship to attend Rochester where he pursued research in the Center for Musculoskeletal Research under the direction of Dr. Edward Schwarz and received his PhD in March 2008. From 2008 until 2012, he performed research as a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Michael Detmar at ETH Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland where he performed research on developing methods for in vivo lymphatic vessel imaging.  In 2012 he was awarded the Andrew Moisoff Young Investigator Award from the Lymphatic Research Foundation. From 2013 to 2019, he has served in the role of Senior Scientist in the lab of Dr. Detmar. As of February 2019, he is a Group Leader at the Theodor Kocher Institute at the University of Bern where he focuses on imaging studies related to fluid flow within the central nervous system and the connections with the lymphatic system. He has co-authored over 60 scientific publications.

Patrick Ronaldson, PhD, University of Arizona, USA
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Dr. Patrick T. Ronaldson is a Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Dr. Ronaldson obtained his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology and his doctoral degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, both from the University of Toronto, Canada. Following doctoral studies, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Arizona. Dr. Ronaldson’s laboratory is currently focused on targeting transporters at the blood-brain barrier for delivery of neuroprotective drugs and for vascular protection in the setting of cerebral hypoxia and ischemic stroke. His laboratory is also working to understand changes to blood-brain barrier tight junction complexes in health and disease and on development of novel therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. He has published more than 50 research and review articles and 7 book chapters on drug transporters and blood-brain barrier biology. Dr Ronaldson’s laboratory has a strong record of extramural funding including current grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and previous grant support from the American Heart Association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers’ Association (PhRMA) Foundation, and the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (ABRC). He is also a past chair of the NIH study section entitled Drug Discovery for the Nervous System (DDNS) and the past chair of the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Drug Metabolism (PPDM) Community of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS).

Marianne Schmid Daners, PhD, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
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Marianne Schmid Daners is a Senior Scientist in the Biomedical Applications Group at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control (IDSC) at ETH Zurich. She graduated from ETH Zurich as a mechanical engineer in 2006. Under the supervision of Professor Guzzella, she completed her doctorate at the IDSC on the topic “Adaptive Shunts for Cerebrospinal Fluid Control” in 2012. Her research focuses on modeling, control, and testing of biological systems, as well as development and control of biomedical devices for the treatment of hydrocephalus and heart failure. She has authored numerous publications in the field of hydrocephalus or cardiovascular support and holds several patents on physiological controllers for cardiac assist devices and related sensor technology.

Eleuterio Toro, PhD, DHC, OBE, University of Trento, Italy
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Eleuterio F. Toro is currently an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Trento, Italy and formerly a Professor of Numerical Analysis (Professore Chiara Fama) at the same University. He holds an Honours BSc in pure mathematics; an MSc in functional analysis and differential equations and a PhD in computational mathematics. Since 1982, and prior to his appointment in Italy (2002), professor Toro held several academic positions in the United Kingdom, including a full professorship; he has also held many visiting appointments in various countries, such as Japan, Russia, China and USA; he is recipient of several honours and distinctions in various countries.  His research has for many years focused on the construction of computational methods for solving time-dependent evolutionary partial differential equations, with emphasis on hyperbolic balance laws and applications to industrial, aerospace, environmental and medical problems.  He is author/editor of several books and author of more than 300 publications. Currently, his research is focused on the biophysics of neurological diseases and their association to the disturbed dynamical interaction of fluid compartments in the central nervous system (arterial blood, venous blood, interstitial fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, the brain parenchyma and the lymphatic system). His work over the last few years, in collaboration with students and academics in various countries, has culminated in the construction of a closed-loop, global mathematical model for the full human cardiovascular system, with special attention to CNS fluid compartments.
More details are found in Website: eleuteriotoro.com

Yao Yao, PhD, University of South Florida, USA

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Dr. Yao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida. Dr. Yao received his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology from Stony Brook University and did his postdoctoral training in Neurobiology and Genetics at the Rockefeller University. Dr. Yao’s research mainly focuses on the functions of laminins (basal lamina) in blood-brain barrier maintenance under both homeostatic and pathological conditions. In addition, Dr. Yao is also interested in pericytes and fibroblasts. His laboratory is investigating the roles of pericytes and fibroblasts in the pathogenesis of various neurological disorders, including stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.


Editorial Board

Shin-ichi Akanuma, PhD, University of Toyama, Japan
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Dr. Shin-ichi Akanuma has worked as Assistant Professor in Academic Assembly, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (former, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences), at University of Toyama from 2007. He received his Ph.D. on Pharmaceutical Sciences from Tohoku University, Japan, in 2012. He has an experience of studying BBB transporter biology at the University of Kentucky, USA from 2015 to 2016. His strong research interest is a role of membrane transporters at blood-brain/retinal barriers in the onset and development of neurological diseases. Especially, he is focusing on the optimization of barrier conditions in neurological diseases. His research experiences mainly cover the in vivo/in vitro pharmacokinetic, histochemical, and fluorescent-imaging studies.

Abraham Al-Ahmad, PhD, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, USA
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Dr Abraham Alahmad received his PhD degree in 2009 in Human Physiology at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) after his training in the blood-brain barrier response to hypoxia in the Department of Veterinary Physiology, under the supervision of Dr ‘Lara Ogunshola. He completed two postdoctoral trainings. Under the supervision of Dr Gregory Bix (Texas A&M University, USA), he focused on understanding the role of the extracellular matrix following ischemic stroke injury; followed by a second training under Dr Eric Shusta (University of Wisconsin, USA) in which he gained skills in the use of patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for modelling the human blood-brain barrier in vitro. During this training, he started to develop such a model as a drug discovery and disease modeling platform.
Dr Al Ahmad is currently an associate professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy. He is pursuing his research on the use of iPSCs to model how environmental (e.g. hypoxia, toxicants) and genetics (neurogenetic disorders) influence the blood-brain barrier integrity in several diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, cerebral hypoxia/ischemia and GLUT1 deficiency.

Anuska V. Andjelkovic, MD, PhD, University of Michigan, USA
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Dr. Anuska Andjelkovic, MD, PhD is  Professor of Pathology and Research Professor of Neurosurgery. Dr Andjelkovic received her M.D. from University of Nis Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia/Serbia), and completed graduate studies at University Belgrade Serbia, in Neuroscience.  Dr Andjelkovic completed her postdoctoral training at University of Connecticut, Medical school and in 2001, she joined the faculty of the Department of Neurosurgery and  Department of Pathology, University of Michigan.  
Since 2001 she developed research program focused on blood brain barrier dysfunction in neuroinflammation and cerebrovascular disease. Her main research areas are tight junctional protein dynamics, the complexity of junctional protein-protein interaction, signaling and epigenetic processes involved in barrier remodeling in stroke, aging and age associated small vessels disease (cerebral amyloid angiopathy); the molecular mechanism involved in cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) lesion leakage and hemorrhagic transformation; the detrimental effect of inflammation on stroke recovery; modulation of tight junctions with small peptides for efficient drug delivery across BBB. 

David A. Antonetti, PhD, University of Michigan, USA

Olivier Baledent, PhD, Jules Verne University, France
New Content ItemOlivier Balédent, PhD in the field of biophysics and radiology. He received his PhD in 2001 from Jules Verne University. His thesis topic was on CSF and cerebral blood flow imaging by MRI. He is currently an assistant professor and head of the medical image-processing department at the University Hospital of Amiens in France. He is a member of the CHIMERE UR 7516 research team dedicated to the head and neck in which he leads the BioFlow group. He is the director of the Animal MR Department at Jules Verne University. He is also professor of biophysics at the Faculty of Medicine of Amiens. Vice-president of the new study group Imaging of Neurofluids that he created with his colleague in 2020 within the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. The objective is to highlight the importance of CSF and blood flow in the physiology of the brain. It is a place open to multidisciplinary exchanges.  
Today, with the clinicians in his group, he continues to develop research on CSF and cerebral blood flow for ultimate use in clinical practice. Currently, with colleagues from other hospitals and research groups, he is working to understand the relationship between neurofluid dynamics and intracranial pressure in patients with hydrocephalus. The goal of this research is to improve the diagnosis of reversible dementia. https://revertproject.org/

William Banks, MD, University of Washington, USA
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Since 2010, Dr Banks has been a Professor in the Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Dept of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Seattle. Since 2016, he has been the Associate Chief of Staff – Research & Development for the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System.  He is a former Editor-in-Chief of Current Pharmaceutical Design and is currently on 16 editorial boards. He received his MD from University of MO-Columbia in 1979 and did training at Tulane University. He is author of over 600 non-abstract publications.
His research interests for 40 years have been the investigation of the mechanisms by which the brain and body communicate through blood-borne mechanisms and how such knowledge can be used to treat human diseases. Understanding these mechanisms has necessitated an in-depth study of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The work has contributed to modern concepts of the BBB, including its ability to act more as a regulatory interface between the blood and brain than as an absolute barrier. He has strong interests in understanding how the BBB responds to physiological changes and reacts to, mediates, and even causes disease states. In this regard, he has a long-standing interest in questions related to the mechanisms by which pathogens interact with and cross the BBB. Current areas of interest include blood-brain barrier, peptides, cytokines, regulatory proteins, obesity, drug delivery, Alzheimer’s disease, LRP-1, P-gp, diabetes and the CNS, neuroAIDS, SARS-CoV-2, neuroinflammation, neuroimmunology, aging, and insulin.

Robert Bell, PhD, Ascidian Therapeutics, USA
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Robert received a PhD in Pathology studying the role of cerebral vascular dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease at the University of Rochester. He then completed an AHA funded postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular biology and held a Research Assistant Professor position in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He joined Pfizer’s Neuroscience Research Unit in 2012 and built a preclinical research lab focused on vascular targets in central nervous system (CNS) disorders and drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier. In 2017, Robert joined the Rare Disease Research Unit at Pfizer where he led a group focused on developing novel AAV-based gene therapies for rare neurological and metabolic conditions. He has authored over 30 scientific papers, served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Fluids and Barriers of the CNS, is a scientific advisory board member for the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation, held a collaborating adjunct faculty appointment at the University of Rhode Island Institute for Neuroscience, and was a steering committee member for the NIH’s Accelerating Medicines Partnership for Parkinson’s Disease. He has had a long-standing interest in understanding how the vascular and other fluid systems in the body contribute to health, disease, and the biodistribution of therapeutic molecules. In 2021, Robert joined Ascidian Therapeutics, a biotech startup that uses unique molecular technology to unlock gene therapy, where he is Vice President and Head of Research.

Reina Bendayan, PharmD, PhD, University of Toronto, Canada
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Dr. Reina Bendayan is a Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto and Career Scientist, Ontario HIV Treatment Network, Ministry of Health of Ontario. Dr. Bendayan’s research program is primarily focused on Membrane Transport and Therapeutics with an emphasis in the field of HIV/AIDS Antiviral Drug Transport and Regulation at blood-tissue barriers, sanctuary sites and cellular reservoirs of HIV. Recent work on the regulation of folate transport to the brain, has identified a novel approach for treating cerebral folate deficiency, a rare but devastating paediatric condition. Her research program is primarily funded by CIHR, Ministry of Health of Ontario and NSERC. She is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has supervised many graduate students and post-doctoral research fellows. She is a member of several national and international scientific associations:  AAPS, CSPS, ASPET, IBBS, ISSX, and IAS. Dr. Bendayan was elected Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS; 2010), the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences (CSPS; 2015) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (September 2021). She is the recipient of the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada Research Career Award (2013) and the AAPS (2015) and CSPS Leadership Award (2019). She served as Graduate Coordinator (1998-2003), Chair and Associate Dean Graduate Education of the Graduate Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (July 2005-July 2011) and as Acting Dean of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy (2007).  
E-mail: r.bendayan@utoronto.ca
Web page: phm.utoronto.ca/~bendayan

Ingolf Blasig, PhD, DSc, Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, Germany
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Ingolf Blasig heads the Molecular Cell Physiology Unit at the Leibnizinstitute for Molecular Pharmacology Berlin-Buch, Germany. He holds a Diploma in Biochemistry from the University Leipzig, a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Academy of Sciences Berlin, and a D.Sc. in Biochemical Pharmacology from the University Halle. 1977-1992, he led a laboratory at the Academy of Sciences and completed Postgraduation in biochemistry and pharmacology. He is Senior Lecturer at Universities in Berlin and Potsdam. 1992, he has been appointed Independent Research Group Leader for tissue barrier research at the Institute for Molecular Pharmacology and is member of the direction board.
Research focus is on the elucidation of structure, function, and manipulation of cell-cell contacts to explore tight junctions (TJ) in barrier-forming cells under normal and pathological conditions to disclose neuropatho­physio­logical mechanisms for better therapy. The interest includes strategies especially modulating cerebral barriers to improve drug delivery to the brain. As the barriers are determined by membrane proteins, strand-forming claudins, regulatory occludin-like proteins, and membrane-associated proteins such zonula occludens proteins are investigated on protein, cellular, and organismic level including patient material.

Birger Brodin, PhD, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 
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Birger Brodin is professor of the research group “CNS Drug Delivery and Barrier Modelling “ at the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and currently serving as Interim Head of Department. He obtained his PhD at the August Krogh Institute, University of Copenhagen, in 1995. The group investigates drug transport mechanisms in the brain endothelium, develop new drug modalities and techniques to generate in vitro models of the blood-brain barrier.  The group participates in national and international research networks, as well as teaching within neuroscience/BBB drug delivery. Birger Brodin is founder of the Scandinavian Blood-Brain Barrier network, member of the Signal Transduction at the BBB International Committee, has authored > 110 scientific peer reviewed publications and is actively engaged in public science dissemination.

Peter D Brown, PhD, University of Manchester, UK
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1977- 1981 B.Sc. in Applied Biology from University of Bradford
1981-1984 Ph.D. in Cell Physiology, Babraham Institute and University of Cambridge
1985-1987 Post Doctoral Fellow in Department of Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles
1987- present Lecturer then Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester. His research interests are the mechanism of CSF secretion and regulation of CSF composition.

Roxana Carare, PhD, University of Southampton, UK