My research interest is in the immune response that occurs in the central nervous system (CNS) with two areas of study within this interest. The first area of study examines the role of the CNS resident immune cells during the immune response following virus infection, neurological diseases, or injury of the CNS. My research focuses on the microglia cells which are macrophage type cells which reside in the CNS. The blood brain barrier restricts the infiltration of peripheral immune cells into the CNS until an immune response has been initiated in the CNS by resident cells and then the infiltration of peripheral immune cells is permitted into the CNS. Therefore, microglia are the first line of defense against injury, infection, or disease in the CNS. My research examines how microglia respond to infection, disease, or injury; how the response by microglia contributes to the overall immune response; and whether the response is helpful or harmful to the CNS.

My second area of study in neuroimmunology is the role of virus infection on the development and progression of autoimmune disease in the CNS. Specifically, we study a virus-induced model of multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice. MS is an autoimmune demyelinating disease affecting humans, predominantly females. Strong epidemiological evidence suggests that virus infections play a role in disease development as well as disease progression. My studies utilize a mouse model of virus-induced MS, Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV). TMEV infection of mice results in the development of an autoimmune mediated demyelinating disease beginning with clinical symptoms around 35 days post infection with a chronic progression in severity, eventually leading to ascending paralysis and death. My research focuses on the role of the innate immune response in the development and progression of the autoimmune response and disease. We have demonstrated that the innate immune response initiated following virus infection plays a critical role in development and progression of the autoimmune demyelinating disease, and we have developed possible therapies based on the innate immune response which when administered to mice diminished the development and progression of the autoimmune disease.