Biomedical Graduate Studies

Description of Clinical Expertise

I am a pediatric neurologist who mostly sees patients in the Leukodystrophy Center for Excellence at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Description of Research Expertise

We study how microglia – the brain’s tissue-resident macrophages—contribute to development and disease, and how this knowledge can inform therapies. As a child neurologist, I care for children with genetic and acquired neuroimmunological disorders including leukodystrophies and genetic leukoencephalopathies.
Over the past decade, I’ve created a comprehensive platform to study microglia that includes identification, culture, sequencing, transplantation, and in vivo manipulation of these cells. My vision is to use these techniques to transform neurological disease treatment by creating microglia-based cell and gene therapies. Based on my scientific background and clinical experience, I have more recently become interested in how microglia protect the brain from viral infection, how these pathways go awry in genetic inflammatory diseases, and how to bridge basic science with the clinic bringing the tools of next-generation sequencing together with mouse xenotransplant and human organoid models to unlock new therapeutic avenues for pediatric neuroinflammatory disorders.