Study Finds Possible Breakthrough in Treating Incurable Neurological Conditions

Dr. Benjamin Segal, co-director of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Neurological Institute discusses study findings published in the journal “Nature Immunology” (26 Oct 2020) that showed a novel type of immune cell not only prevents further damage of the central nervous system, but also reverses damage and restores function. Researchers hope this discovery will lead to new therapeutic breakthroughs as well as previously unheard of recovery for those with neurological diseases and injuries such as ALS, multiple sclerosis, stroke, or a traumatic brain or spine injury.

Dr. Benjamin Segal, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at The Ohio State College of Medicine and co-director of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Neurological Institute, is a graduate of Brown University. He is internationally recognized for his work in multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology and he publishes in high impact academic journals, including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Annals of Neurology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, and Lancet Neurology. Dr. Segal has shown that the type of inflammation that causes damage to the nervous system during MS can vary among individuals, suggesting that pharmaceutical regimens must be personalized for each patient. More recently, his laboratory is investigating how destructive immune responses in the nervous system can be skewed and redirected to initiate repair.