Dr. Brody was born and raised in San Diego, California. He attended La Jolla High School, and completed undergraduate studies in Biological Sciences at Stanford University in 1992. His undergraduate research project involved computational modeling of parallel distributed neural networks in the laboratory of Dr. William Kristan at the University of California at San Diego.

Research in our laboratory and collaborative group is focused on the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, a major risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's Disease, and the single leading cause of permanent disability in people under age 45 in the United States. Supportive care is the only effective treatment at present.

Our work has focused on the role of the amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) in TBI. Deposition of the Aβ peptide, one of the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, also occurs in a significant number of young TBI patients. Previous research demonstrates that the levels of Aβ change dramatically after TBI and that injury to axons may play an important role in Aβ deposition. Our preliminary results suggest that therapeutics that block the effects of Aβ may improve cognitive outcomes in a transgenic mouse model of TBI. This work may lead to improved therapeutic options for patients with TBI in the future.

Recently, we have begun to measure Aβ levels following TBI and other brain injuries in both mice and human patients using intracerebral microdialysis. A major aim is to use microdialysis to measure the effects of therapeutics that target Aβ, and more generally to perform pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies in the human brain.

A second major line of research has been in the role of Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) in TBI. The APOE4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for both poor outcome after TBI and the development of Alzheimer's disease. We are using gene-targeted and transgenic mice to investigate the role of ApoE in TBI. ApoE interactions with Aβ after TBI and effects on axonal injury are of particular interest. The ultimate goal is the development of ApoE-based therapeutics.

An area in which great progress has been made recently is in the detection of traumatic axonal injury using a new MRI technique called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). We are validating this method in a mouse model of TBI using direct, quantitative comparison of DTI signal abnormalities to histological and electron microscopic "gold-standards." DTI appears to be considerably more sensitive to white matter injury than conventional imaging methods. Future work will include the use of DTI and other advanced MRI methods in human TBI patients, with the goals of improving our ability to detect clinically significant axonal injury after relatively minor head injuries, assist with prognosis, and guide stratification of patients for therapeutic trials.

Medical Training

He received both MD and PhD degrees from the Johns Hopkins University in 2000 as part of the NIH Medical Scientist Training Program. His PhD thesis work on neuronal calcium channels and short-term synaptic plasticity was performed in the laboratory of Dr. David T. Yue, Department of Biomedical Engineering. He was the winner of the Hans Prohaska Young Investigator Award at Johns Hopkins in 2000.

He completed an internship in Internal Medicine in 2001 and Neurology residency in 2004, both at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. In 2004, he received the Leonard Berg Prize for Research Conducted During Residency and the Medical Student Teaching Award at Washington University.

He was a post-doctoral fellow in Washington University in the laboratory of Dr. David Holtzman. His research focused on the role of the amyloid-β peptide in traumatic brain injury. He was the recipient of a K08 career development award from the NIH, a Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, and a grant from the Thrasher Fund.

Currently he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology. In addition, he treats patients with subacute and chronic sequelae of traumatic brain injury in the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic located at the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis. He is the organizer of the Neurotrauma Research Interest Group (part of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders) and is a member of the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences in the Neurosciences Program.

Selected Publications

Kristan, W.B., Lockery, S.R., Wittenburg, G., and Brody, D. "Making Behavioral Choices with Interneurons in a Distributed System" in Neurobiology of Motor Programme Selection Editors Kein, McCrohan and Winlow, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1992, pp 170-200.
D. L. Brody, P. G. Patil, J. G. Mulle, T. P. Snutch, and D. T. Yue, Bursts of Action Potential Waveforms Relieve G-Protein Inhibition of Recombinant P/Q-type Ca2+ Channels in HEK 293 Cells. Journal of Physiology (London) 499, 637-644, 1997.

P.G Patil, D. L. Brody and D. T. Yue, Preferential Closed State Inactivation of Neuronal Calcium Channels. Neuron, 20, 1027-1038, 1998.
D.L. Brody, D.T.Yue. Release-independent Short-term Synaptic Depression in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons. J. Neurosci, 20 2480-94, 2000
D.L. Brody, D.T.Yue. Relief of G-Protein Inhibition of Neuronal Calcium Channels and Short-term Synaptic Facilitation in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons. J. Neurosci, 20, 889-898, 2000.
H.M. Colecraft, D.L. Brody, D.T. Yue. G-protein inhibition of N- and P/Q-type calcium channels: distinctive elementary mechanisms and their functional impact. J Neurosci, 21, 1137-47, 2001.

D.L. Brody, V. Aiyagari, A. M. Shackleford, M. N. Diringer. Use of Recombinant Factor VIIa In Patients With Warfarin-Associated Intracranial Hemorrhage Neurocritical Care, 2, 263-267, 2005.

D.L. Brody, D.M. Holtzman. Morris Water Maze Search Strategy Analysis in PDAPP Mice Before and After Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury. Experimental Neurology 197, 330-340, 2006.

D. L. Brody, C. Mac Donald, C. C. Kessens, C. Yuede, M. Parsadanian, M. Spinner, K. E. Schwetye, D. M. Holtzman, P. V. Bayly "An Electromagnetic Controlled Cortical Impact Device for Precise, Graded Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury", Journal of Neurotrauma 2007 (in press)

Mac Donald, C.L., Song, S.K., Bayly, P.V. Holtzman, D.M., Brody, D.L. "Detection of Traumatic Axonal Injury with Diffusion Tensor Imaging in a Mouse Model of Traumatic Brain Injury," Experimental Neurology 2007 (in press).