Juan Herrera
Assistant Professor
McGovern Medical School at UT Houston
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging
The overall research program in the Herrera Lab is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying blood spinal cord barrier permeability following spinal cord injury (SCI), so that new treatments strategies can be developed. Utilizing a rodent contusion model of SCI which mimics many of the pathological responses observed in human SCI, changes to the BSCB are examined while in parallel functional assessments for motor recovery and behavioral assessment for neuropathic pain are performed. We also incorporate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to gain further insight into the longitudinal pathological fiber tracts changes occurring in the spinal cord and in the brain following trauma. We test various interventions aimed at attenuating the development of neuropathic pain, reducing tissue loss, and reducing blood spinal cord barrier permeability. We currently have collaborations examining antioxidant nanoparticles and biomaterials as post-injury interventions with the goal of improving motor function while reducing the development of neuropathic pain.
Education & Training
PhD - University of Utah