Cole Harrington, MD, PHD

About

Biography

I am a physician-scientist specializing in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system. My goal in caring for people living with MS and other central nervous system inflammatory disorders is to find the best treatment regimens that will prevent relapses, new lesions and reduce progression. Symptom management is also an important aspect of therapy, and finding medications and other approaches to maintain quality of life is an important part of treatment.

One of my goals is to be a physician who people feel comfortable talking to about any concerns or with questions about their neurological disorder.

Neuroimmunologists/MS specialists may be the physicians people with these disorders see regularly throughout their lives, and my goal is to be the stability in their MS care. It is also my priority to connect people to the multidisciplinary specialists in our Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Center, and make sure people are well-supported and are empowered to explore the resources that are available.

My research aims to understand how glial cells in the central nervous system, called oligodendroglia, are influenced by an inflammatory environment. Oligodendroglia are responsible for myelinating the central nervous system, and in multiple sclerosis, damage to myelin and the oligodendroglia results in demyelinated lesions and neurological disability. No therapies are currently approved for promoting remyelination and repair and restoring neurological disability in multiple sclerosis.

The goal of our research program is to identify targetable pathways in oligodendroglia that can promote their normal function to repair and remyelinate lesions. Oligodendroglia assume alternative cell fates in response to inflammation, and how this influences their properties and repair capacity is unknown. Understanding of how oligodendroglia are altered by an inflammatory environment, we believe, will lead to the development of therapies to promote myelin repair and restore neurological function in people living with multiple sclerosis.

I am passionate about discovering therapies to help restore neurological function in MS and to prevent or improve neurological disability. My laboratory is focused on oligodendroglia, with the goal of developing therapies that can promote remyelination and repair. Mentoring and teaching the next generation of neurologists, MS specialists and researchers is important to me. I serve as the Ohio State University College of Medicine site director for two trainee development summer programs through the National Multiple Sclerosis Society – the medical student summer MS clinical program and the undergraduate summer MS research program. I also serve as a clinical preceptor for the Ohio State College of Medicine and its Medical Scientist Training Program, where medical students who are interested in neurology work with me in MS clinic.

Credentials

Research