“In vitro studies of biophysical and molecular determinants of the blood-brain barrier during sepsis and systemic inflammation”

Kaihua (Chloe) Chen, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rochester, has received IFER funding from 2022-2024 for her project, “In vitro studies of biophysical and molecular determinants of the blood-brain barrier during sepsis and systemic inflammation.” While mice models are commonly used to model sepsis, they do not give response profiles resembling those of humans. The goal of Kaihua’s project is todevelop a human cell-based model to study brain injury during sepsis. Her model will include the three cell types comprising the neurovascular unit (human blood vessel cells, astrocytes, and pericytes) along with a microfluidic component that allows for circulating flow with a physiological level of shear stress. She will use the model to investigate how individual cell types respond to a simulated septic ‘cytokine storm’ and will investigate whether sphingosine 1 phosphate offers a protective effect.