Ralph Dacey, MD

Ralph Dacey, MD

Henry G & Edith Schwartz Professor, WashU Neurosurgery

Regulatory mechanisms of the cerebrovascular microcirculation

The goal of this laboratory is to study the physiology of the cerebral microcirculation and device treatments to alleviate cerebrovascular dysfunction. This laboratory is headed by Dr. Ralph G. Dacey, Jr., Schwartz Professor and chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery. Dr. Dacey’s research centers on the implications of physiological phenomena on pathological conditions affecting the cerebral microvasculature such as subarachnoid hemorrhage and acute hypoxia with subsequent reoxygenation. In a second line of research, Dr. Hans H. Dietrich, assistant professor of neurological surgery, studies the role of purinergic regulation in microvascular regulation and adjustment of local microvascular flow. Recent additions to Dr. Dietrich’s research interests include mechanism of amyloid beta-induced cerebrovascular dysfunction, cerebral amyloid angiopathy and vascular function in Alzheimer’s Disease, cerebral microvessel and astrocyte communication using a new ex vivo model of the neurovascular unit, and the study of calcium independent phospholipases A2 (iPLA2beta and iPLA2gamma) and vascular regulation. Frequently, this laboratory welcomes research fellows from abroad, most recently Dr. Takahiro Murata of Japan.

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