Isaura Martins, PhD
Principal Investigator
Isaura received a PhD in Neuroscience from University of Manchester, UK in 2015 and finished the Spinal Cord Injury Training Program from The Ohio State University, USA in 2017. She established the Neurotrauma Lab in 2024 to understand how vascular and perivascular cells can contribute and modulate repair after Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury. When not researching and mentoring, Isaura enjoys long days in the beach, yoga and spending time with her family and her dog Glia.
Our Research
Our research focus on understand how vascular and perivascular populations of the blood brain and spinal cord barrier can influence repair after Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
Recently we have identified two new vascular players that are injury-induced, CD9 and MYLIP and we are exploring how these proteins play a role in metabolism, neuroinflammation and plasticity.
Current projects at the lab involve:
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Neurovascular Unit Disruption after Injury;
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Cholesterol and Lipid Dysregulation Post-Neurotrauma;
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MYLIP/CD9 and Perpetuation of Chronic Inflammation.
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Current funding:
The Dream Team
Research Experts
Isaura Martins, PhD
Principal Investigator
Dalila Neves-Silva, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Madalena Pires, BSc
Master Student
Publications
Martins I.*#, Neves-Silva D.#, Ascensão-Ferreira M., Dias A.F., Ribeiro D., Isidro A.F., Quitéria R., Paramos-de-Carvalho D., Barbosa-Morais N.L. and Saúde L. (2023) Mouse spinal cord vascular transcriptome analysis identifies CD9 and MYLIP as injury-induced players. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 24, 7:6433. DOI: 10.3390/ijms24076433. (*corresponding author, #first co-author)
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