Clinical Pediatric Dermatology Open Access

Xiaodi Chen

Biography

He is awarded PhD in Human Biology, magna cum laude from Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Philipps University of Marburg, Germany in the 2006-2009. He has extended his valuable service as a teaching assistant in Institute of Medical Sociology & Social Medicine Philipps-Universitat Marburg, to facilitate students? research in Medical Demography and other medical fields for three years. He was a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Pediatrics, Brown University for 5 years (2010 ? 2015) and has been a recipient of many award and grants. Currently, he is working as Research Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, Brown University from May 2015. His international experience includes various programs, contributions and participation in different countries for diverse fields of study. His research interests reflect in his wide range of publications in various national and international journals.

Research Interest

I am interested primarily in the roles of pro-inflammatory cytokines in perinatal brain ischemia, which is caused by an insufficient blood supply in a perinatal brain, and is among the leading causes of mortality and long-term neurological morbidity during the perinatal period. It is estimated that perinatal brain ischemia has an incidence of occurring in every two to four babies, and causes premature births in every five to six babies out of 1000 full term births. For the treatment of fetal brain ischemia, lowering the body?s temperature (hypothermia) is the only approved therapeutic approach used in the clinic. But even still, it is only partially protective. Therefore, the understanding of the mechanisms leading to brain tissue destruction and finding an effective treatment are of utmost importance for this serious disease and are my ultimate research goal. A number of pathological insults including CNS injury, infection, and inflammation can increase protein expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and the increased pro-inflammatory cytokines in turn exacerbate cellular and tissue damages in immature brain. In this regard, my research is focusing on the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines and therapeutic approach using anti-inflammation reagents, especially monoclonal antibody and serine protease inhibitors, in fetal brain tissue destruction following brain ischemic injury. I am using two major animal models to analyze perinatal brain ischemia including a unique ovine fetus model and a Vinucci rat ischemic model. Both animal models are state-of-the-art and are so far the closest model to mimic human fetal brain ischemia, and thus makes it easier to translate the results for the clinical use.