SCoBIRC FACULTY

Edward D. Hall, Ph.D.

William R. Markesbery, M.D. Chair in Neurotrauma Research

Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center

Professor, Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Neurology, Neurosurgery and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Ph.D., Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences (1976). Postdoctoral training at Cornell University Medical College (1976-1977).

Dr. Hall and his lab

Research Interests

Pharmacological Treatments for Acute Brain and Spinal Cord Injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) are among the most serious consequences that human beings can suffer. In most cases of TBI and SCI, the neurological, economic and social consequences are devastating to the patient, his or her family and to society as a whole. Although high dose treatment with the glucocorticoid steroid methylprednisolone has been shown to have some beneficial effect in SCI patients, there are no clinically proven and approved pharmacological therapies for acute treatment of TBI patients aimed at mitigating the damaging neurological effects of their injuries. Nevertheless, hope for improved treatments for SCI and the possibility of an effective treatment for TBI is derived from the fact that although some of the neural injury in both instances is due to the primary mechanical events (i.e. shearing of nerve cells and blood vessels), the majority of post-traumatic degeneration is due to a pathochemical and pathophysiological cascade of secondary events occurring in the first minutes, hours and days which exacerbates the effects of the primary injury that can be interrupted by pharmacological approaches.

Dr. Hall's laboratory is focused upon the further understanding of the secondary injury process that follows mechanical trauma to the brain or spinal cord, and the discovery of novel pharmacological treatments that will inhibit post-traumatic neurodegeneration and/or enhance neurological recovery. His laboratory is presently interested in the roles of reactive oxygen-mediated oxidative and calpain-mediated cytoskeletal damage mechanisms and their pharmacological interruption.

Dr. Hall's ongoing research is funded by grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Kentucky Spinal Cord & Head Injury Research Trust.

Representative Publications

Xiong, Y., Singh, I.N. and Hall, E.D. Tempol protection of spinal cord mitochondria from peroxynitrite-induced oxidative damage. Free Radical Res. 43:604-612, 2009.

Carrico, K.M., Vaishnav, RA and Hall, E.D. Temporal and spatial dynamics of peroxynitrite-induced oxidative damage after spinal cord contusion injury. J. Neurotrauma 26:1369-1378, 2009.

Xiong, Y. and Hall, E.D. Pharmacological evidence for a role of peroxynitrite in the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury. Exp. Neurol. 216: 105-114, 2009.

Vaishnav, R.A., Singh, I.N., Miller, D.M. and Hall, E.D. Lipid peroxidation-derived aldehydes directly and differentially impair spinal cord and brain mitochondrial function. J. Neurotrauma 27:1311-1320, 2010.

Mustafa, A.G., Singh, I.N., Carrico, K.M., Wang, J. and Hall, E.D. Mitochondrial protection after traumatic brain injury by scavenging lipid peroxyl radicals. J. Neurochem. 114:271-280, 2010.

Thompson, S.N., Carrico, K.M., Mustafa, A.G., Bains, M. and Hall, E.D.. A pharmacological analysis of the neuroprotective efficacy of the brain and cell permeable calpain inhibitor MDL-28170 in the the mouse controlled cortical impact traumatic brain injury model. J. Neurotrauma  27:2233-2244, 2010.

Mustafa, A.G., Wang, J.A., Carrico, K.M. and Hall, E.D. Pharmacological Inhibition of Lipid Peroxidation Attenuates Calpain-Mediated Cytoskeletal Degradation After Traumatic Brain Injury. J. Neurochem. 117:579-588, 2011

Sullivan, P.G., Sebastian, A. and Hall, E.D. Therapeutic window analysis of the neuroprotective effects of cyclosporine A after traumatic brain injury. J. Neurotrauma 28:1-8, 2011.

Selected Chapters and Reviews

Hall, E.D. and J.E. Springer. Neuroprotection and acute spinal cord injury: a reappraisal. Neuro Rx 1:80-100, 2004.

Hall, E.D. and P.G. Sullivan. Preserving Function in Acute Nervous System Injury. In: From Neuroscience to Neurology: Neuroscience, Molecular Medicine, and the Therapeutic Translation of Neurology, (S.Waxman, Ed.), Elsevier/Academic Press, Amsterdam, pp. 35-59, 2005.

E.D. Hall. Stroke/traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. In: Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry II (Vol. 6, Central Nervous System, M.Williams, ed.) D.J. Triggle and J.B. Taylor (Series Eds.) Elsevier Ltd., Oxford, 2007, pp. 253-277.

E.D. Hall. Free radicals and neuroprotection in traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. In: Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology, 3rd Edition, (Volume 24, S. Ray and N.L. Banik, Ed.) A. Lajtha (Series Ed.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 203-229, 2008.

Hall, E.D. Acute Treatment Strategies for Spinal Cord Injury: Pharmacologic Interventions, Hypothermia and Surgical Decompressioin. Chapter 66 in: Spinal Cord Medicine: Principles and Practice (2nd Edition), (V.W. Lin et al, eds.), Demos Publishing Co., New York, pp. 883-896, 2010.

Hall, E.D., Vaishnav, R.A. and Mustafa, A.G. Antioxidant Therapies for Traumatic Brain Injury. Neurotherapeutics 7:51-61, 2010.

Hall, E.D., Vaishnav, R.A. and Mustafa, A.G. Antioxidant Therapies for Traumatic Brain Injury. Neurotherapeutics 7:51-61, 2010.

Bains, M. and Hall, E.D. Antioxidant Therapies in Traumatic Brain & Spinal Cord Injury. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1822:675-684, 2012.