Rona Giffard PhD

Dr. Rona Giffard's laboratory studies stroke. Stroke is a devastating problem that is the leading cause of long term neurological disability and the third leading cause of death worldwide. We try to identify ways to reduce ischemic brain injury, and to better understand the interactions between different brain cell types during injury and recovery. Astrocytes and their response to injury is an important focus in the lab. We have found that astrocyte impairment contributes to neuronal injury in global ischemia. Targeting protective strategies to astrocytes leads to markedly increased neuronal survival