PPN Expands Scientific Advisory Board with Addition of Dritan Agalliu, PhD
PANDAS Physicians Network, a Division of the Foundation for Brain Science and Immunology, welcomes Dritan Agalliu, PhD to the PPN Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Agalliu is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology and Neurology with tenure at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, whose research focuses on the blood-brain barrier in the central nervous system and the mechanisms of neurovascular barrier breakdown in a variety of neuroimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, including PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections). He is the recipient of multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Eye Institute and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute) as well as private foundations.
“We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Agalliu to the PANDAS Physicians Network Scientific Advisory Board,” said Susan Boaz, Executive Director of the PANDAS Physicians Network, “Groundbreaking research from the Agalliu lab on PANS/PANDAS and basal ganglia encephalitis will lead to innovative, new treatments for those suffering from infection triggered neuropsychiatric symptoms. His findings will impact generations of children.”
Dr. Agalliu will bring to the Scientific Advisory Board over 25 years of research experience in cellular and molecular neuroscience, neuroimmunology, cerebrovascular biology as well as translational neuroscience. He has a strong expertise with pre-clinical studies in rodent models for neurological disease and has published numerous research articles in prestigious journals (e.g. Nature, Cell, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications, Neuron, PNAS), trained a large number of postdoctoral scientists and graduate students, and has spoken at various international conferences around the globe, including those for PANDAS/PANS.
To learn about Dr. Agalliu’s PANS/PANDAS research, please visit https://www.pandasppn.org/agalliu.