Welcome to the Yepes laboratory. Research in the Yepes lab focuses on the role of proteases in the ischemic brain. More specifically, we investigate the basic molecular mechanisms underlying cell death and survival as well as the development of cerebral edema in the ischemic brain. We also study the neuroinflammatory response and its impact on the clinical outcome following acute ischemic stroke. A third area of research involves the mechanism leading to synaptic and neurological recovery following an ischemic injury.
People

Manuel Yepes, MD
Manuel Yepes was trained and board certified as a Neurologist and Vascular Neurologist in Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and became the director of the Stroke Center & Ultrasound Laboratory. In 2004 he moved to Emory University where he is Professor of Neurology (with tenure) and member of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease. He is also the Director of the Atlanta VAMC Stroke Team and the O. Wayne Rollins Endowed Chair in Stroke and Imaging Research at Emory National Primate Research Center. As a clinician he is actively involved in the care of stroke patients in Emory University Hospital and the VAMC. As a scientist he directs a laboratory of cerebrovascular neuroscience in the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease in Emory University that studies the molecular mechanisms of neuronal death and survival in the ischemic brain. He also leads a research program in stroke and neuroimaging at Emory National Primate Research Center. Dr. Yepes is fellow member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, American Neurological Association, American Academy of Neurology, Society for Neuroscience, and American Stroke Association.

Enrique Torre, PhD
Enrique Torre received a PhD degree in chemistry from the Instituto de Investigación Médica MM Ferreira/Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, in Argentina in 1986. His research focuses on the role of tissue-type plasminogen activator in the development of synaptic plasticity under physiological and pathological conditions such as cerebral ischemic.

Cynthia Martin-Jimenez, PhD
I earned my PhD degree in Biological Sciences in Javeriana University, Bogota, Colombia. I use systems biology, bioinformatics to study brain networks. I work on the integration of human astrocyte genome-scale metabolic networks with different omics profiles (metabolomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics) in order to determine physiologic and pathologic mechanism involved in neurodegenerative diseases. In the Yepes’ lab I study the role of the plasminogen activating system in neurorepair aster an ischemic stroke and in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Pavel Yanev, MSc
Stroke is one of the leading cause of permanent disability worldwide. Experimental studies suggest that it is possible to stimulate lost brain functions by enhancing brain plasticity processes, i.e. by remodeling neuronal connectivity and synaptic activity in impaired brain tissue. My research focuses on the elucidation of neuronal and vascular aspects of recovery after cerebrovascular injury and monitoring of neurorestorative therapies. This includes sensorimotor and cognitive behavioral tests, stereology and multimodal MR imaging approaches of brain pathophysiology and reorganization in rodent and primate stroke models. Currently, I study the role of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) on synaptic plasticity during stroke recovery, with a translational research approach. Insights from our studies should lead to a better understanding of the complex pathophysiology of neurovascular disorders with the overall goal to develop a pharmacological therapy to restore lost brain functions.

Diego Julian Vesga Jimenez, MSc
I am a Colombian biologist interested in neuroscience, and mostly in neurorecovery, neuroprotection, and the use of bioinformatics tools to solve biological questions through processing, visualization, and interpretation of data. I earned my bachelor's and master's degrees in Javeriana University, Bogota Colombia, with the group of experimental biochemistry and bioinformatics. In the Yepes's lab I study proteomic changes in the ischemic brain. My immediate and short-term goal is to strengthen my background as a scientist, and to improve my laboratory skills. In the long term I want to become an independent scientist to integrate traditional neuroscience research with state-of-the-art biotechnology.

Yena Woo
Yena Woo is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Chemistry and minoring in Anthropology at Emory University. Yena is on the Pre-Med track and hopes to obtain a MD/PhD degree. Her research interests include the physiology and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), and has past experience researching the role of heat shock protein in treating AD. In the Yepes’ Lab, Yena currently focuses on the Plasminogen Activator System, and its role in neurovascular and neurodegenerative disease in the human and non-human primate brain.

Nick Weinrich
Nick Weinrich is an Emory third-year undergraduate student majoring in biology and minoring in anthropology who hopes to attend medical school in the future. In the past, he has studied how different receptor proteins mediate tau uptake and seeding in Alzheimer’s Disease. Currently, Nick is interested in studying plasminogen activators and their role in repair of the ischemic brain in order to improve current treatment plans for stroke.

Laura Zvinys
Laura Zvinys is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University. She hopes to attend medical school in the future. Laura has previously studied clinical drugs as inhibitors of carbonic anhydrase catalytic activity in a drug synthesis lab. Currently, Laura is interested in learning more about neurodegenerative diseases and is studying the Plasminogen Activator System and its role in the recovery of the ischemic brain.