
Optical Dissection of Brain Capillary Function
Abstract
My laboratory uses in vivo multiphoton imaging and rodent models to shed light (quite literally) on regulation of cerebral blood flow. In particular, we have focused recent attention on the vast capillary networks that distribute blood throughout the brain. We use light to both visualize capillary structure and flow, as well as noninvasively manipulate neurovascular cells that control capillary flow. We specialize in the application and development of in vivo multi-photon imaging approaches to study brain microvascular structure and function in rodents. Our recent findings include the construction of capillary networks during early postnatal development, regulation of blood flow in adulthood by capillary pericytes, and capillary changes in gray and white matter that may contribute to metabolic insufficiencies during aging and dementia. I firmly believe that our efforts will provide a unique and physiologically relevant view of microvascular function, dysfunction, and repair, and will yield strategies for protecting vascular function in diseases that degrade the brain’s microvasculature.
Biography
Andy Shih is an Assistant Professor in the department of Developmental Biology & Regenerative Medicine at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Additionally, he is an assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington. His research focuses on optogenetic approaches to manipulate pericyte contractility in the intact brain, and studies to delineate pathological features of mural cells in advanced age and small vessel disease. Shih earned a B.S. in Cell Biology and genetics from the University of British Columbia (2010) and Ph.D. in Neuroscience. He has completed his postdoc and been a project scientist from University of California, San Diego (2012). Shih has been invited to several symposiums and been part of the SfN Nanosymposium chair (Stroke and Injury, 2016) where he elaborates about his extensive findings & projects. A complete list of his published works in Google Scholar & NIH Pubmed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=andy+y+shih
Sponsored by the Michael and Roberta Berns Laser Microbeam Program