Revealing How Blood Triggers Brain Disease

In patients with neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, immune cells in the brain known as microglia that normally fulfill beneficial functions become harmful to neurons, leading to cognitive dysfunction and motor impairment. These harmful immune cells may also contribute to age-related cognitive decline in people without dementia.

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Nature Immunology Selected Our Image For The July 2023 Volume 24 Cover

Katerina Akassoglou and colleagues provide single-cell RNA-sequencing and phosphoproteome analyses of CNS microglia and macrophages in response to blood proteins including activated complement and fibrin. Their findings point to potential therapeutic targeting of microglia activation by immune and vascular signals.

Our Chapter Was Selected For The Alzheimer’s Disease Book Cover

The laboratory of Dr. Katerina Akassoglou developed a method for three-dimensional imaging of neurovascular alterations and blood-brain barrier disruption in cleared human brains. The image shows fibrin (red) around damaged blood vessels (green) and amyloid (blue) in the brain from a patient with Alzheimer’s disease.

Image Credit: Mario Merlini

Katerina Akassoglou Elected Fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)

This honor recognizes ASPET’s most distinguished members for their meritorious efforts to advance pharmacology, through their scientific achievements, mentorship, and service to the Society.

Katerina Akassoglou Received the 2022 ISFP Prize

Katerina Akassoglou, PhD received the 2022 ISFP Prize “for outstanding contributions to the field of fibrinolysis and proteolysis” at the 3rd Joint Meeting of the International Society for Fibrinolysis & Proteolysis and the Plasminogen Activation Workshop, held at Caen, France in September, where she delivered the ISFP Prize lecture. Dr. Akassoglou is the first woman to receive the award since its inauguration in 1974.

Andrew Mendiola – Awarded K99

Andrew Mendiola, received a K99 award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for his project “Epigenomic regulation of oxidative stress-producing innate immunity in neuroinflammation.”

The purpose of the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) program is to facilitate a timely transition of outstanding postdoctoral researchers with a research and/or clinical doctorate degree from mentored, postdoctoral research positions to independent, tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions. The program will provide independent NIH research support during this transition in order to help awardees to launch competitive, independent research careers.

COVID-19 linked to neurological symptoms, studies show

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Two new research papers are shedding light on what can happen to the brain after getting COVID

Gladstone Institutes Senior investigator, Professor Katerina Akassoglou explains how this damage could be happening.

“The evidence from the brain from COVID patients we know that there are blood leaks in the brain of those patients in inflammation and when there is a leaky area between the blood and the brain this could be an amplifier of neurological symptoms,” said Professor Akassoglou.

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Katerina Akassoglou elected lifetime AAAS Fellow

Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, has been elected into the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a lifetime distinction by the world’s largest general scientific society.

“I’m grateful to my lab members and collaborators for their immeasurable contributions to these studies over the past 20 years. Election to AAAS further encourages us to follow our curiosity about how brain diseases start and progress and we look forward to new discoveries contributing to the advancement of science.”

Katerina Akassoglou Elected to National Academy of Inventors

Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Election to NAI is the highest professional distinction given solely to academic inventors.

“Election to the NAI further encourages us to pursue challenging problems in biology and medicine to develop urgently needed treatments for devastating human diseases.”