– Rutgers
Scientist Natasha O’Brown, a professor in Rutgers’ Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience in the School of Arts and Sciences, is the first faculty member to receive Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) support in more than a decade.
Her research explores the blood-brain barrier, a network of cells that regulates what can enter the brain — a complex process that promotes healthy brain function but also creates obstacles for medical treatment.
O’Brown’s work in this emerging area of life science was recognized earlier this year when she was named a Freeman Hrabowski Scholar by the HHMI — an honor that provides up to 10 years of support for early-career faculty who show the potential to become leaders in their fields.
“Everything from fish to humans has a blood-brain barrier,” said O’Brown. “It’s created by the blood vessels in your brain, which have these specialized properties that keep them very restrictive. You can think of the brain as this VIP club, and the barrier as the bouncer who’s controlling what is getting in and what’s getting out. It’s not a complete wall, but it’s highly selective, like a filtering process. And it’s absolutely necessary for maintaining everything you need for day-to-day human functioning.”
O’Brown’s lab studies the connection between the blood-brain barrier and illnesses.
“Barrier breakdown has been implicated in almost every neurodegenerative disease, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and ALS,” she said. “But the barrier breaks down in different areas of the brain, with different neurons that are susceptible to each of these diseases. How that’s actually happening is one of the areas my lab is trying to tackle. Where is this heterogeneity coming from? Why are certain neurons most susceptible for one disease versus another disease?
“With these new tools and an evolutionary approach, I think we can finally move past just managing symptoms and start building real treatment strategies for brain diseases that have long lacked viable options, in large part because of the blood-brain barrier.”
