The UF BREATHE Center is devoted to developing new therapeutics that preserve or restore breathing and airway defense, walking, hand/arm function and overall health for those living with spinal cord injuries. With acute injuries, we are actively exploring oxygen therapeutics in the intensive care unit to preserve spinal cord tissue and optimize functional outcomes. With chronic injuries, we harness the capacity for spinal cord plasticity by applying therapeutic acute intermittent hypoxia, spinal electrical stimulation, respiratory strength training, and drug treatments. Many investigations use treatment combinations to optimize outcomes.
| Researcher/Clinician Name | Title | Department | Specialties | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Jason Blatt, MD, FAANS, FAAP | Clinical Associate Professor | Department of Neurosurgery & Pediatrics | Pediatric neurosurgery, with a special focus on brain tumors (including complex and re-do surgery), epilepsy, minimally-invasive and transnasal brain surgery, and congenital spinal disorders. |
 | Prodip Bose, MD, PhD | Associate Professor & Interim Director | Department of Neurology; Brain Rehabilitation Research Center | Spasticity after TBI/SCI |
 | Katharina Busl, MD, MS | Professor, Division Chief & Associate Editor | Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery; Division of Neurocritical Care | Care innovations and quality of neurocritical care; treatment of headache in the NeuroICU, neuroprognostication and medical complications of neurocritical disease |
 | David Clark, ScD | Professor | Department of Behavioral Neurology | Rehabilitation from stroke and SCI (human movement) |
 | Erica Dale, PhD | Assistant Professor | Department of Physiology & Aging | Spinal stimulation induced phrenic motor plasticity; neurostimulation and functional recovery of breathing capacity after spinal injury |
 | Matthew Decker, MD, MBA, MPH | Assistant Professor | Department of Neurological Surgery | Treating spinal pathologies such as traumatic injuries, degenerative spine, spinal tumors, and infectious conditions. |
 | Andrew Dubin, MD | Interim Chair | Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation | Electric stimulation; chronic pain |
 | Irene Estores, MD | Associate Professor & Residency Program Director | Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation | Medical acupuncture; neuropathic pain |
 | Daryl Fields, MD, PhD | Assistant Professor | Department of Neurological Surgery | Spinal cord stimulation for motor restoration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; development of novel biomarkers for spinal cord injuries; and development of clinical prognostic tools related to tumor, trauma and degenerative disorders. |
 | Emily Fox, PT, DPT, PhD, NCS | Associate Professor; Director; Clinical Associate Director | Department of Physical Therapy; Brooks-PHHP Research Collaboration & Brooks Neuromuscular Research; BREATHE Center | Phrenic/diaphragm pacing as rehabilitative tool; therapeutic intermittent hypoxia and spinal injury |
 | David Fuller, PhD | Associate Dean for Research; Associate Director | College of Public Health & Health Professions; BREATHE Center | Spinal stimulation and recovery of breathing activity with opiate-induced respiratory depression and spinal injury; Regulation of airway muscles; hyperbaric oxygenation, intermittent hypoxia and respiratory plasticity, Pompe disease |
 | Elisa Gonzalez-Rothi, DPT, PhD | Research Associate Professor | Department of Physical Therapy | Respiratory plasticity induced by neurostimulation and intermittent hypoxia; spinal cord injury; sleep apnea & pathogenic intermittent hypoxia after SCI |
 | Lance Governale, MD, FAANS, FAAP | Chief | Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery | Pediatric neurosurgery with a speical interest in craniosynostosis, minimally invasive neurosurgery (including endoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus and craniosynostosis), brain/spinal cord tumors, tethered spinal cords, arachnoid cysts, and cavernous malformations. |
 | Daniel Hoh, MD, MBA | Professor | Department of Neurological Surgery | Applying innovative surgical techniques and novel technologies for the treatment of spinal degeneration, trauma, deformity, tumors and rheumatologic and infectious disorders. |
 | Qing Lu, PhD | Professor | Department of Biostatistics | Statistical genetics and statistical/machine learning, with a special interest in developing statistical/machine learning methods (e.g., tree and deep learning) for high-dimensional data analyses (e.g., genetic data analysis). |
 | Carolina Maciel, MD, MSCR | Associate Professor; Director of Research | Department of Neurology; NCC | Cognitive function after cardiac arrest/recovery; neurocritical care, TBI |
 | Alex Marciante, PhD | Research Assistant Scientist | Department of Physical Therapy | How the APOE4 gene interacts with other triggers of neuroinflammation to undermine respiratory plasticity in a time-of-day-dependent manner. |
 | Shawn McGargill, MD | Clinical Assistant Professor | Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation | Interventional spine care; orthopaedics and rehabilitation; physical medicine and rehabilitation |
 | Gordon Mitchell, PhD | Preeminence Professor; Director; Deputy Director | Department of Physical Therapy; BREATHE Center; McKnight Brain Institute | Intermittent hypoxia induced respiratory plasticity, therapeutic intermittent hypoxia in spinal injury and ALS |
 | Gregory Murad, MD, FAANS | Program Director & Clinical Professor | Department of Neurological Surgery | Applying innovative surgical techniques and novel technologies for the treatment of spinal degenerative, trauma, deformity, tumor, rheumatologic and infectious disorders, as well as novel treatments and management strategies for severe traumatic brain Injury. |
 | Maria Nikodemova, MS, PhD | Research Associate Scientist | Department of Physical Therapy | microglial plasticity in healthy CNS and during neurodegeneration; APOE4 phenotype, sleep apnea; the role of microglia and neuroinflammation in regulating respiratory motor plasticity during hypoxia and after spinal cord injury |
 | Dana Otzel, PhD, ATC, LAT | Health Science Specialist | Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center | Human and rodent studies of muscle/bone rehabilitation after SCI |
 | Karim Oweiss, PhD | Professor | Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering | Neuroengineering, cortical compensation for SCI; neural interface design to restore, augment or repair lost sensorimotor function |
 | Michael Pizzi, DO, PhD, FCCM | Associate Professor; Clinical Associate Professor | Departments of Neurology & Neurosurgery; Department of Neuroscience | Preserving the blood-brain barrier after acute brain injury; characterizing the role of the endothelial glycocalyx in regulating cerebral blood flow; investigating the effects of ketone esters on cerebral blood flow; developing models to measure brain compliance |
 | Christopher Robinson, DO, MS | Associate Professor & Neurology Medical Director; Associate Chair of Clinical Operatiosn; Program Director; Director | Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery; Neurointensive Care ICU; Neurocritical Care Fellowship Clerkship | Brain death, meningitis, traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and COVID-19 associated neurological complications |
 | Christine Schmidt, PhD | Distinguished Professor & Chair | Department of Biomedical Engineering | Neuroregeneration after peripheral or spinal cord injury |
 | Yasin B. Seven, MS, PhD | Assistant Professor | Department of Physiological Sciences | Neuroprotection in spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative diseases, nanoparticle-based targeted drug delivery |
 | Guogen Shan, PhD | Professor; Interim Director; Director | Department of Biostatistics; Research Design and Data Coordinating Center; Biostatistics Consulting Lab | Clinical trial design & analysis. |
 | Ramon Sun, PhD | Associate Professor; Director; Associate Director of Innovation | Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Center for Spatial Biomolecule Research; McKnight Brain Institute | Cellular metabolism, signaling, and physiology; disease etiology of neurological disorders |
 | Heather Vincent, PhD, FACSM | Associate Professor | Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation | Rehabilitation from SCI |
 | Alicia Vose, PhD, CCC-SLP | Assistant Professor | Department of Neurology (UF Health -Jacksonville) | Acute intermittent hypoxia and respiratory strength training to enhance breathing and swallowing in people with chronic spinal cord injury; effects of diaphragm stimulation on respiratory neural drive and function |