Andrew Grande, MD

June 4 , 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Cindy Starr
Communications Department
(513) 569-5321

Tom Rosenberger
Communications Department
(513) 569-5320

AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Research Prize
Awarded to University of Cincinnati Neurosurgery Resident Andrew Grande, MD

CINCINNATI – The Section on Cerebrovascular Surgery of the major national surgical organizations has honored fourth-year resident Andrew Grande, MD, of the University of Cincinnati’s Department of Neurosurgery with a $15,000 Cerebrovascular Disease Research Award for his proposed study, “Regenerative Potential of Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells in the Adult Neocortex.”

Dr. Grande will use the funds, awarded by the cerebrovascular surgery section of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), to test his hypothesis that neural stem/progenitor cells located in the adult neocortex can be mobilized to generate new neurons following an ischemic injury (or stroke) caused by an insufficient flow of oxygen to the brain.

Neural stem/progenitor cells are immature brain cells that have the capacity to develop into functioning neurons. If scientists learn how to harness these cells for the production of new neurons, they might eventually be able to repair the brains of individuals who have suffered a stroke or other damaging neurological event.

“Neurogenesis, the production of new neurons, is known to occur in a few restricted regions of the healthy adult brain,” Dr. Grande said. “But some recent studies have reported the presence of neural stem/progenitor cells in the adult neocortex, the part of the brain involved with higher mental functions.”

Dr. Grande will attempt to track the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells into neurons in the neocortex in rodents.

Dr. Grande is a 1998 graduate of St. Olaf College and a 2003 graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School.

UC’s Department of Neurosurgery, chaired by Raj Narayan, MD, and the closely affiliated Mayfield Clinic, are recognized nationally for clinical care, education, and research of the spine and brain. The Mayfield Clinic includes 22 neurosurgeons and treats 20,000 patients from 35 states and a dozen countries in a typical year. Mayfield's neurosurgeons are active participants in important clinical trials and have pioneered surgical procedures and instrumentation that have revolutionized the medical art of neurosurgery for brain tumors and neurovascular diseases and disorders.