Stephen Kolb, MD, PHD

About

Biography

I am the director of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center ALS/MND Multidisciplinary Clinic and Research Program and a professor of Neurology and Biological Chemistry & Pharmacology, both at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

My research focuses on spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). I initiated and led the inaugural clinical study of the Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials, or NeuroNEXT, network established by the National Institutes of Health that defined the natural history of infantile-onset SMA that hastened the development of disease-modifying treatments in SMA.

I earned my medical degree at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center (UTHSC) in Houston and earned my PhD in Neurosciences from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UTHSC. In addition, I completed an internship and neurology residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After residency, I completed postdoctoral work in the University of Pennsylvania laboratory of Gideon Dreyfuss, PhD, where we studied the molecular pathogenesis and clinically relevant biomarkers in SMA.

For nearly two decades, I have led a research laboratory focused on the molecular basis of cell selectivity in motor neuron diseases, and have developed novel patient-derived, cell-based and animal models of hereditary axonal neuropathy, SMA and ALS. My findings have contributed to an understanding of how genetic variants associated with motor neuron degeneration are linked to the processes of neuronal repair and aging.

My laboratory team has developed the first mouse model of a genetic form of ALS associated with mutations in the KIF5A gene and is currently developing a large animal model of motor degeneration to understand the gene expression changes that precede and cause motor neuron loss in SMA and ALS.

I appreciate the culture of research and commitment to innovation here at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and the readily available resources that allow me to pursue highly complex research.

Credentials

Research

News and media

My news coverage

• Ohio State researchers publish national guidelines for ALS genetic testing, counseling
• Wexner Medical Center among the first in the nation to administer new gene therapy for ALS
• Study examines the possible role of KIF5A gene in ALS
• Gallego-Perez Earns NIH 'High Risk, High Rewards' Research Grant