Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience
Faculty, Chronic Brain Injury
Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research Building
460 Medical Center Drive
Columbus, OH 43210
Olga.Kokiko-Cochran@osumc.edu
Research Focus
Inflammation following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a dynamic response of both the central and peripheral nervous systems, which is influenced by age, sex, injury location and severity. Because inflammation occurs after all brain injuries, I considers it an integral component of recovery. TBI is not an isolated event, and data indicate that pre- and post-injury immune challenges influence the response to TBI and chronic recovery. Additionally, evidence suggests that the brain’s stress response to an immune challenge is compromised following TBI. As a result, subsequent life stressors that further challenge the immune system alter long-tern recovery from TBI. We predict that post-injury sleep disruption is a significant and understudied stressor that largely influences outcome through inflammatory pathways.
Approaches
- experimental TBI; fluid percussion injury
- behavioral testing; motor, cognitive, and sensory
- immunohistochemistry
- western blot
- ELISA
- qPCR
- flow cytometry
Education and Training
BA, Psychology, Mount Union College, Alliance, OH
MS, Experimental Psychology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
PhD, Biopsychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Post-doc, The Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH