Damien D. Pearse, Ph.D.
The John M. and Jocelyn H.K. Watkins Distinguished Chair in Cell Therapies
Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
1095 NW 14th Terrace (R-48)
Miami, FL 33136
Research Interests
Areas Of Research
Publications
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Exploration and Translation of Therapeutic Strategies to Repair the Injured Spinal Cord and Brain
My laboratory focuses on several key aspects of spinal cord injury repair:
- preventing progressive tissue damage following the initial mechanical trauma through the application of pharmacological or biological neuroprotectants,
- overcoming the physical impediment of the injury cyst through the implantation of exogenous cells or by harnessing endogenous cellular repair mechanisms and,
- the promotion of axon regeneration by the stimulation of intracellular signaling pathways that are important in the initiation and/or maintainence of axon growth.
The overall goal of the laboratory is to identify and/or develop effective combinatory strategies that target all of these deficiences so as to establish an efficacious treatment regimen for clinical implementation in human SCI. It is also our aim to find strategies that are amenable to the acute and/or chronic phases of SCI and that are not associated with adverse effects that would negate the benefits of such therapies clinically (development of pain, tumor formation etc.)
Visit Dr. Pearse’s Publication Listing
News Stories
Exosomes Show Promise as a Potential SCI Strategy (June 2020)
Reducing Damage After Spinal Cord Injury (Fall 2017)
Schwann Cell Safety Trial Completed (March 2017)
Damien D. Pearse, Ph.D. Installed as the John M. and Jocelyn H.K. Watkins Distinguished Chair in Cell Therapies (February 2016)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS/MEMBERSHIPS
American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA)
American Pain Society (APS)
International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)
American Society for Neural Transplantation and Repair (ASNTR)
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI)
American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT)
National Neurotrauma Society (NNS)
Society for Neuroscience (SfN)