Welcome to the Sampson Lab
Timothy Sampson, PhD
Assistant Professor/P.I.
Dr. Sampson’s primary research interests lie in understanding how the complex interactions between indigenous microbes and the host can shape neurological responses, during neurodegenerative disease and neurological injury.
Research interests:
The Sampson Lab is broadly interested in understanding how indigenous gut bacteria impact neurological outcomes across health and disease.
Our diverse group of researchers use gnotobiotic mouse models and molecular neuroscience to tease apart microbe- and gene- specific interactions that can modulate neurodegeneration (such as in models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases) and neurological recovery (such as following spinal cord injury). We are working to identify the cellular and physiological pathways in the gastrointestinal tract that microbes impact to generate beneficial and pathological signals in the brain.
In addition, our team has a growing interest in better understanding why certain microbiome compositions arise in individuals with neurological disease. We are exploring how environmental toxicants, linked to numerous neurodegenerative diseases, interact with the microbiome to shift its composition and metabolic output in ways that may contribute to disease.
By harnessing dietary and probiotic approaches, we seek to elucidate both molecular understanding of disease etiology initiating in the gut and identify new paradigms for the prevention and/or treatment of neurological illness.