News

A new bioRxiv preprint from the Poirazi Lab (FORTH-IMBB) and the Polleux Lab (Columbia), with contributions from the Quantitative Imaging Group, maps every excitatory and inhibitory synapse across the dendritic arbor of mouse CA1 pyramidal neurons in vivo and uses biophysical models to show how clustered excitatory inputs support efficient, stable place field encoding.

Martin received an award from The Ohio State University's Second-year Transformational Experience Program, supporting his work on tissue processing in mouse and human skin.

A new bioRxiv preprint led by researchers at UT Dallas, with collaborators at the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, Columbia University, and the Quantitative Imaging Group, reveals that the external globus pallidus (GPe) contains molecularly and anatomically distinct subpopulations forming parallel output channels linked to different behaviors. Luke Hammond contributed BrainJ-based whole-brain mapping and quantitative analysis.

Published in Journal of Neuroinflammation. The Segal lab extends the alternatively activated neutrophil framework, established in their 2024 axon-regeneration study, to T cell-driven neuroinflammation in models relevant to multiple sclerosis. The Quantitative Imaging Group contributed histology guidance, imaging methods, and analysis to the study.

A new bioRxiv preprint led by the Costa Lab at the Allen Institute and Columbia University, with collaborators at the Alves da Silva Lab (Champalimaud Foundation) and the Quantitative Imaging Group, identifies a molecularly defined Sox6+ subtype of ventral substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons that is selectively vulnerable in Parkinson's disease and drives early motor symptoms.

Jeshua joins the Quantitative Imaging Group, on a joint appointment with the Shin Lab in the Department of Neurology. His work focuses on neuroimmune interactions in the peripheral nervous system, with an emphasis on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and quantitative analysis of skin biopsies.

RESPAN is an open-source deep-learning pipeline for restoration, segmentation, and quantitative analysis of neuronal morphology, developed in collaboration with the Polleux Lab at Columbia University. The pipeline enables automated analysis of dendritic spines, dendritic branches, and soma across challenging volumetric microscopy datasets.

Amruta joins the Quantitative Imaging Group, on a joint appointment with the Shin Lab in the Department of Neurology. She develops methods for human skin biopsy analysis, including multiplex immunostaining and quantification of intraepidermal nerve fibers and neuroimmune markers.

Luke Hammond is a Co-Investigator on a new NCI R01/R37 led by Eric D. Eisenmann examining how damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) contribute to chemotherapy-induced toxicity. The project also includes long-term collaborator Grace Shin (Shin Lab). The Quantitative Imaging Group will develop imaging and analysis workflows to measure tissue injury, cellular interactions, and spatial inflammatory responses.

Published in Nature Immunology. Mouse and human bone marrow neutrophils, polarized with IL-4 and G-CSF, upregulate alternative activation markers and produce growth factors that promote neurite outgrowth. Adoptive transfer into experimental models of CNS injury triggered substantial axon regeneration in optic nerve and spinal cord.

Martin joins the Quantitative Imaging Group as an undergraduate student. He is studying Neuroscience with a minor in Philosophy at The Ohio State University, contributing to method development for tissue processing, imaging, and quantitative analysis of neuroimmune interactions in mouse hindpaw and human skin.

Luke Hammond is a Co-Investigator on a five-year NINDS R01 led by Sangmin Jeon at Johns Hopkins University investigating how immune cells regulate skin reinnervation by collateral sprouting after peripheral nerve injury. The project also includes Grace Shin as Co-Investigator. The Quantitative Imaging Group will develop imaging and analysis workflows for whole-mount tissue and skin biopsy preparations.