Setty Magaña, MD, is Principal Investigator at the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She applied for a Spark Award to support her project, “Extracellular vesicles as novel, multimodal biomarkers in pediatric neuroimmune syndromes.”
There is a critical need to develop novel and robust biomarkers to help guide the management and treatment of monophasic and multiphasic MOGAD. The Magaña lab, in collaboration with Dr. Eduardo Reategui, has established a robust, multiparametric EV-omics pipeline for the isolation and biophysical characterization of EVs from various biofluids. No previous studies have explored the role of EVs in MOGAD.
“We aim to identify novel EV-proteins and RNAs enriched in patients with MOGAD compared to ADS and HC, which can then be validated in larger cohorts of patients,” explains Magaña.
The primary goal of the current proposal is to be the first group to perform EV-omics in pediatric MOGAD.
The Spark Award funds will help offset costs associated with biostatistical and bioinformatics support—analyses essential for the biomarker discovery aspect of the proposal.
Congratulations to Dr. Magaña on receiving a Spark Award and advancing research in pediatric neuroimmune syndromes!
Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute.