PhD seminar – Andrew Greenhalgh

Friday 8 November at 11:30

Venue: centre Broca

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Andrew Greenhalgh
Assistant professor
Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation & Geoffrey Jefferson Centre for Brain Research
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health – University of Manchester
https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/andrew.greenhalgh

Andrew Greenhalgh was a post-doctoral researcher in NutriNeuro in 2017-2020

Title

The meningeal immune system as a regulator of brain injury

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects millions of people world-wide each year. Concussion, or mild TBI, is bar far the largest contributor to these numbers, but little is known about the injury process. It is now understood that mild TBI increases the risk of developing emotional and cognitive disorders such as anxiety and depression and, in repetitive injury, neurodegenerative disease. Immunological processes are firmly established as mediators of brain disorders in other contexts, but little is known in mild TBI, particularly as there is no frank brain tissue damage. The meningeal membranes surrounding the brain provide it with physical protection, but these barriers are also major immune cell hubs. Our research investigates these barriers’ immune response to mild TBI and attempts to understand how these niches could play role in altered brain function following injury. Data from animal models and neuroimaging in professional rugby players suggest that the meningeal immune response is significantly altered in mild TBI and is a candidate to prime brain tissue for later neurodegenerative processes.