Jason P. Sheehan, M.D., Ph.D.
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Professor of Neurological Surgery and
Neuroscience
Co-Director of the Lars Leksell Gamma Knife Center
B.S. 1992 Chemical
Engineering, University of Virginia
M.S. 1992 Biomedical Engineering,
University of Virginia
Ph.D. 1997 Biological Physics,
University of Virginia
M.D. 1998 University of
Virginia
Epilepsy and Neuronal Regeneration Research Strategies
My laboratory is focused on two major
research areas. The first involves the study of the underlying
mechanisms by which stereotactic radiosurgery ameliorates
seizures. A multicenter NIH study using Gamma Knife surgery has
demonstrated the efficacy of subnecrotic doses of radiation to the
amygdala and hippocampal structures of patients with temporal lobe
epilepsy. Moreover, research completed at the University of
Virginia using a chronic temporal lobe epilepsy animal model has shown
a similarly positive result. This animal model has demonstrated
changes in hippocampal neuronal circuitry that is likely the cause of
the improvement in epilepsy. The Gamma Knife induced
neuromodulation is the subject of intense research by our lab in
conjunction with Dr. Kevin Lee.
The other area of active research is the study of axonal guidance cues
in a human neuronal model. Human neurons from epilepsy patients
and a brain tumor cell line are being investigated. The guidance
cues (e.g. Nogo) and intracellular calcium signaling that facilitate or
inhibit axonal propagation are targets of interest in this in
vitro research.
Representative Publications
Sheehan J, Palmer P,
Helm G, Tuttle J: MPP+ Induced Apoptotic Cell Death in SH-SY5Y
Neuroblastoma Cells: An Electron Microscope Study. Journal
of Neuroscience Research 48(3):226-237, 1997.
PubMed Link to Sheehan Publications
