Description of Research Expertise

Dr. Festa is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine and Division of Neurology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The goal of Dr. Festa's research is to understand the basic mechanisms governing developmental myelination and to leverage this knowledge to develop novel therapeutics to target remyelination in aging and disease. In rodents and humans, the oligodendrocyte lineage is an active player in shaping neuronal circuitry and function. Moreover, oligodendrocytes have an endogenous capacity to restore their cell population via remyelination, a process driven primarily by the migration and differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). The progression of OPCs and subsequent remyelination is closely regulated by intrinsic mechanisms; however, in conditions of chronic neuroinflammation and aging, spontaneous remyelination is often inefficient and eventually fails, leading to permanent neuronal degradation and clinical disability. There is a current unmet clinical need to identify regulators of oligodendrocyte homeostasis that are disrupted during disease states and can be utilized to promote functional recovery in patients.

Using cell culture, genetic, and disease models, Dr. Festa's work seeks to identify and manipulate novel functions of organelles within the oligodendrocyte lineage to uncover intrinsic mechanisms underlying developmental myelination, and demonstrate its therapeutic potential to alleviate cellular and functional white matter abnormalities comprising neurologic disease states, including multiple sclerosis, HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease.