Speaker: David J. Loane
Location: Biomedical Sciences Building, University of Galway
Date: Monday, 9th March 2026
We are pleased to announce a seminar by David J. Loane, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Prof. Loane is a neuroimmunologist who leads a multidisciplinary research team dedicated to studying the complexities of traumatic brain injury (TBI), neuroinflammation and tissue repair. He investigates the activation status and functional role of resident microglia and infiltrating immune cells in the injured brain, and how they contribute to ongoing neurodegenerative processes that promote long-term cognitive decline after brain trauma (e.g. dementia). His research group is seeking to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that regulate microglial/macrophage function with the goal of manipulating these cells to attenuate destructive pro-inflammatory responses and promote protective pro-repair responses.
Ongoing projects include examining:
1) the function of microglia/macrophages following acute TBI, and how they contribute to chronic neurodegenerative pathologies;
2) how age affects microglia/macrophage function after TBI;
3) the signalling pathways that regulate protective anti-inflammatory immune activation in brain, and whether these pathways can be therapeutically manipulated after TBI;
4) how TBI alters bidirectional brain-periphery interactions and systemic immune function in gut, lung, and bone marrow tissues.
The mission for his multidisciplinary group is to elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying post-traumatic neuroinflammation, progressive neurodegeneration and loss of neurological function, and to develop novel neuroprotective treatment strategies that will translate to the clinic for human head injury.
Over the past 20 years Prof. Loane’s preclinical TBI studies have identified key inflammatory mechanisms that drive neurodegeneration and age-related disease (e.g. NOX2/NLRP3 inflammasome, Type I IFNs, senescence).
The seminar is hosted by Abhay Pandit.
