Devin McBride joined the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at UTHealth in Houston in 2017. The lab focuses on understanding the causes of delayed cerebral ischemia after subarachnoid hemorrhage so that we can identify new therapeutic targets. They have found that platelets and neutrophils are key cells in causing poor outcome after subarachnoid hemorrhage. The lab has been funded by grants from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and industry.

Please tell us your background, where you are from, schooling, etc.

Dr. McBride received his Ph.D. from the University of California Riverside under the mentorship of Dr. Victor G. J. Rodgers where his research focused on understanding the phenomena of crowded protein osmotic pressure and its applications to medical devices. During his Ph.D., he received a number of Fellowships, including an NSF IGERT Fellowship in Video Bioinformatics and a DOE GAANN Fellowship. His postdoctoral training occurred under the tutelage of Dr. John H. Zhang at Loma Linda University where he studied translational neuroscience research with an emphasis on cerebrovascular disease. During his postdoctoral work, Dr. McBride received an NIH F32 award from NHLBI to develop and study an animal model of vasovagal syncope. He has also co-authored several papers in the fields of engineering and neuroscience. 

What led you to become involved with brain aneurysm research?

My postdoctoral training in translation research related to cerebrovascular disease lead me to become interested in secondary injuries following stroke. I transitioned into the field of brain aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage when I began my faculty appointment at UTHealth. I am intrigued by the secondary injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage and am utilizing my expertise to uncouple the mechanisms of delayed injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage, as well as investigate novel treatments.

In the simplest terms, what is the purpose of your project?

We are studying the role of annexin after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Briefly, annexin has been shown to be lower in patients that have poor outcome. Annexin is known to benefit both neutrophils and platelets to keep them from becoming reactive. We propose that annexin can calm these two cells to improve outcome after SAH.

In the simplest terms, what do you hope will change through your research findings?

My hope is that my research can identify treatment targets which can improve patient outcome.

Why is the funding you are receiving through the Brain Aneurysm Foundation so important?

Brain aneurysm is under-funded by larger funding agencies, but support from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation provides funding so we can continue our work to get more data in support of our ideas. This has allowed me to receive funding from NIH for our work. The current work being funded will help us to follow the same process to get NIH funding for this therapeutic target.