Eng Lo, PhD MGH Research Scholar Profile

MGH Research Scholar Eng Lo, PhD, is using in vivo and in vitro models to investigate new strategies for protecting brain cells after stroke or trauma.

A New Network Approach for Neuroprotection

The Lo laboratory uses in vitro and in vivo models to investigate the molecular mechanisms that underlie cell death after stroke and trauma, and to assess new strategies for neuroprotection.

The medical research community has learned that single targets do not work to save the brain. Disease is complex, with many overlapping pathways and mechanisms. Hence the hypothesis of "network neuroprotection."

The Lo lab is trying to define how the entire genetic network is perturbed in stroke, brain injury and degeneration.

If the network can be defined, then instead of trying to save individual cells, there is the possibility to "renormalize" the entire network and rescue brain function.

My laboratory studies how cells and organisms regulate their iron content, and how this process goes awry in many common diseases.

We have used our discoveries to develop novel therapies that are being tested in clinical studies in human patients to treat anemia of chronic kidney disease, thereby taking our discoveries from the bench to the bedside.

Our future goals are to take innovative approaches to tackle fundamental unanswered questions about how iron balance is regulated, and to discover new treatment strategies for disorders related to iron imbalance.