The goal of our research is to understand the mechanisms involved in pathogenesis of inflammation and demyelination in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Our studies primarily employ an animal model for the human disease multiple sclerosis, known as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We are currently funded to study a) antibodies to myelin constituents and B cells in EAE and in MS; b) mechanisms of cytokine regulation in MS; and c) to develop imaging techniques to identify demyelination versus axonal loss in the CNS of animals and patients. We are also funded to perform a Phase II trial of B cell depletion in MS patients that are not optimally treated with standard agents.

Medical Training

Dr. Cross graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Alabama with a B.S. in chemistry and cum laude from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. She did neurology residency training at the George Washington University, serving as Chief Resident in her final year. Following six years of fellowship training in the Neuroimmunology Branch at the NIH, at Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital, and at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in neuropathology, Dr. Cross was awarded the Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar Award of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 1990.

Selected Publications

1. Song SK, Sun SW, Ju WK, Lin SJ, Cross AH, Neufeld AH: Diffusion tensor imaging detects and differentiates axon and myelin degeneration in mouse optic nerve after retinal ischemia. NeuroImage 2003; 20: 1714-1722.

2. Stark J, Cross AH: Differential Expression of Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling-1 and -3 and Related Cytokines in Central Nervous System During Remitting versus Non-remitting Forms of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. Int Immunol 2006; 18:347-353.

3. Cross AH, Ramsbottom MJ, Lyons JA: NOS2 regulates cytokine production and VLA-4 expression in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis J Neuroimmunol 2006; 173:79-86.

4. Cross AH, Stark JL, Ramsbottom MJ, Lauber J, Lyons JA: Rituximab reduces B cells and T cells in cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients. J. Neuroimmunol. 2006; 180:63-70.

5. Rinker JR II, Trinkaus K, Cross AH: Elevated CSF free kappa light chains correlate with disability prognosis in multiple sclerosis. Neurology 2006; 67:1288-1290.

6. McCandless DD, Piccio LA, Woerner BM, Schmidt RE, Rubin JB, Cross AH, Klein RS. Pathologic expression of CXCL12 at the blood-brain barrier correlates with severity of multiple sclerosis. Am J Pathol 2008; 172: 799-808

7. Lyons JA, Ramsbottom MJ, Mikesell RJ, Cross AH: B cells limit epitope spreading and reduce severity of EAE induced with PLP peptide in BALB/c mice. J Autoimmunity 2008; 31: 149-155.

8. Piccio LM, Stark JL, Cross AH: Chronic Calorie Restriction Attenuates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. J Leuk Biol 2008; 84:940-948.

9. Xu J, Sun S-W, Naismith RT, Snyder AZ, Cross AH, Song S-K Assessing Optic Nerve Pathology with Diffusion MRI: from Mouse to Human. NMR in Biomedicine 2008 (in press)

10. Piccio LM, Buonsanti C, Schmidt RE, Rinker J, Panina-Bordignon P, Cella M, Colonna M, Cross AH: Identification of a novel soluble TREM-2 protein in the cerebrospinal fluid in association with central nervous system inflammation. Brain 2008; 131: 3081-3091

11. Naismith RT, Xu J, Tutlam NT, Snyder A, Benzinger T, Shimony J, Shepherd JB, Trinkaus K, Cross AH, Song SK: Quantification of optic neuritis using directional diffusivities derived from diffusion tensor imaging. Neurology(in press)

12. Budde MD, Xie M, Liang HF, Trinkaus K, Cross AH, Song SK: Axial diffusivity is the primary correlate of axonal injury in the EAE spinal cord: A quantitative pixelwise correlation analysis. J Neuroscience(in press)

13. Klawiter EC, Alvarez E, Xu J, Paciorkowski AR, Zhu L, Parks BJ, Cross AH, Naismith RT. NMO-IgG Detected in CSF in Seronegative Neuromyelitis Optica. Neurology (in press)

14. Naismith RT, Tutlam NT, Xu J, Klawiter EC, Shepherd JB, Trinkaus K, Song SK, Cross AH. Optical coherence tomography differs in neuromyelitis optica compared with multiple sclerosis. Neurology (in press)