Nihal DeLanerolle, DPhil, DSc
Professor Emeritus of NeurosurgeryCards
About
Titles
Professor Emeritus of Neurosurgery
Biography
Dr. Nihal C. de Lanerolle holds the rank of Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurobiology. A Fulbright Senior Scholar and Corresponding Member of the German League Against Epilepsy, he is the recipient of the higher doctoral degree of Doctor of Science from the University of Sussex, England. He has served as a Member of the National Institute of Mental Health study Section on "Cognitive Functional Neuroscience", as a Member of the "Sensory, Motor and Cognitive Neuroscience Fellowships Study Section and the Study Section on Traumatic Brain Injury, CDMRP Department of Defense.
An expert on the neuropathology of human seizure foci and explosive blast traumatic brain injury, Dr. de Lanerolle participates in national and international symposia on epilepsy and traumatic brain injury, and regularly as a reviewer of manuscripts for leading scientific journals. He is member of the Yale Epilepsy Surgery Research Program and the Yale Interdepartmental Neuroscience Graduate Program and is active as a teacher of neuroscience to medical students and undergraduates.
Appointments
Neurosurgery
EmeritusPrimaryNeurosurgery
Senior Research ScientistSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- DSc
- University of Sussex, Neuroscience (1995)
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- Yale University (1979)
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- University of Minnesota (1978)
- DPhil
- University of Sussex (1972)
Research
Overview
My laboratory is engaged in a study of the pathophysiology of seizure foci in the brains of patients with epilepsy. Our work has concentrated on the molecular and cellular organization of hippocampal seizure foci in patients with medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy, who have this seizure focus removed in our epilepsy surgery program for the control of seizures. In the past our work has defined the anatomical, cellular and molecular organization of the hippocampal seizure focus in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.
Our current work focuses on the molecular characterization these seizure foci through the use of high throughput techniques such as DNA microarray analysis and proteomics. The work completed using these techniques has focused attention on the molecular changes in reactive astrocytes at seizure foci, which appear to play a critical role in causing an excitable environment in the brain. Our studies specially focus on the role of inflammatory processes in epileptogenesis and the maintenance of seizures.
In parallel with studies on human seizure foci, the laboratory is also developing and characterizing new animal models of temporal lobe epilepsy that better reflect the pathophysiological changes in human seizure foci. These translational studies are aimed at developing and testing new antiepileptic drugs and developing methods for seizure prediction.
In a second line of investigations the laboratory focusses on the neuropathology of the brain in soldiers and large animals exposed to explosive blast pressure waves in order to understand the neural mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders associated with exposure to blast. Completed studies have found for the first time unequivocal evidence of injury to the anterior hippocampaus correlated with memory impairments, and a unique pattern of periventricular axonal injury. Present work is further exploring the relationship of periventricular injury to suicide and depression.
Efficacy of erythropoietin (EPO) and EPO analogues in the treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy.Neuropathology of blast related traumatic brain injury.
The role of glia in the development of hippocampal seizure foci.
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Academic Achievements and Community Involvement
Links & Media
News
- April 01, 2009
Finding new ways to calm storms in the brain
- July 15, 2004
Enzyme linked to epilepsy
- February 02, 2004
Study Implicates Enzyme in Certain Epileptic Seizures
- September 15, 1998
Researching the whole brain