The Neuroimmunology and Neurotoxicology Laboratory, led by Gisel Flores-Montoya, focuses on better understanding how the neuroimmune system influences behavior in health and disease.
Our research is translational, that is, findings from human studies inform the development of hypotheses for animal studies and vice versa. The lab is currently examining the effects of chronic low-level lead exposure on neuroimmune cells in the brain, meningeal lymphatics, and on memory using a model of C57BL/6j mice.
The final goal of the laboratory is to provide foundational studies that might aid in the development of a treatment that might rescue the detrimental effects of chronic low-level lead exposure on memory in children. Another focus of research is examining how the newly discovered meningeal lymphatic vessels surrounding the brain might influence memory in health and in disease (e.g. after pathogenic exposure).