Dr. Agnes Luo PhD

Agnes Luo, PhD
Professor and Vice Chair
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
Co-Director, Neuroscience Graduate Program
University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine
Cincinnati (OH), USA

Dr. Luo received her Ph.D degree from University of Rochester for her work on the mechanism of orphan nuclear receptor Nurr1 on dopaminergic neuron development and survival in Dr. Howard Federoff’s lab. She then received her post-doctoral training at National Institute of Drug Abuse in Baltimore in Dr. Barry Hoffer’s lab. In 2011, Dr. Luo joined Case Western Reserve University as an Assistant Professor and started the Neuroprotection and Neuroregeneration research program at the Department of Neurological Surgery at CWRU. Currently, Dr. Luo is a full professor and Vice Chair for research at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences at the University of Cincinnati and an adjunt member of the Immunology Graduate Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Her research focuses on investigating the role of neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease) and neural injury (such as traumatic brain injury and stroke). Her lab utilizes combined technology including cell type-specific inducible mouse models, iPSC-derived neuronal and glial cells, and behavioral analysis to study neuronal death and neuronal repair with a focus on neural-glial interaction in homeostasis and injury. Based on the molecular mechanisms discovered, her lab also has an interest in developing novel treatments for neurological diseases, with some lead candidates currently under clinical trials for improving neural repair therapy.