Our laboratory investigates the role of the blood-brain barrier (a type of cell “shield” that prevents harmful substances from crossing into the brain) in health and disease. Our goals are to improve drug therapy and minimize harmful side effects caused by drug interactions.
Our laboratory conducts cerebrovascular research to better understand brain physiology and function in neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy and epilepsy with other comorbidities such as stroke or depression), with a focus on the blood-brain barrier.
We investigate the mechanisms and pathophysiological alterations that could contribute to disease progression and/or impede drug bioavailability across the dysfunctional blood-brain barrier. We study drug-metabolizing enzymes (e.g., cytochrome P450 enzyme, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase), drug transporters (e.g., P-glycoprotein/MDR1, multidrug resistance-associated proteins), nuclear receptors (e.g., glucocorticoid nuclear receptor, pregnane xenobiotic nuclear receptor), and other regulatory factors that control pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic phenomena during drug biotransformation in disease states. We also investigate the consequence of metabolic disturbances at the blood-brain barrier in epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
With a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, neurosurgeons and neuroscientists, we investigate the factors contributing to drug resistance in patients suffering from epilepsy. We use multifaceted approaches to study the neurovascular properties ex vivo and in vitro using a humanized dynamic neurovascular unit established with primary brain cells isolated from resected brain tissues post-epilepsy surgery, and in vivo by using rodent models of seizure/epilepsy.
The long-term goal of these studies is to develop a screening platform for pharmacological compounds, including drugs, across the blood-brain barrier. We also strive to identify novel therapeutic targets and potential biomarkers in the brain and vasculature for improving drug efficacy.
View publications for Chaitali Ghosh, PhD
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Our education and training programs offer hands-on experience at one of the nationʼs top hospitals. Travel, publish in high impact journals and collaborate with investigators to solve real-world biomedical research questions.
Learn MoreIn a new review, Dr. Ghosh notes that recent case reports of COVID-19-associated neurological disorders, which may result from blood-brain barrier dysfunction, demonstrate the virus’ neuroinvasive potential.
Dr. Ghosh’s team has learned about an important relationship between the glucocorticoid receptor and heat shock proteins, which may have clinical implications for treating patients who have drug-resistant epilepsy.