James Grau

James Grau is the Mary Tucker Currie Professor of Neuroscience at Texas A&M University, affiliated with the Institute for Neuroscience. His research focuses on learning mechanisms in spinal cord systems, pain modulation, and recovery from neural injury. He has been funded by NIH and the Neilsen Foundation. Grau’s work demonstrates spinal cord capacity for behavioral learning and explores how pain input exacerbates injury outcomes. He has published extensively on spinal cord injury mechanisms, including studies on hemorrhage, locomotor deficits, and therapeutic interventions.

Research interests include neural plasticity, spinal cord injury recovery, and the interplay between pain and tissue damage. His lab uses rodent models to investigate adaptive and maladaptive neural processes post-injury. Recent studies highlight the role of anesthesia in mitigating pain-induced complications and the implications of spinal cord learning for clinical therapies.

• Awards: APA Fellow, APS Fellow
• Funding: NIH grants and Neilsen Foundation support
• Labs/Teams: Neurotrauma, Pain, & Plasticity Lab at Texas A&M

His work bridges basic neuroscience with translational research, emphasizing the spinal cord’s hidden cognitive capacities and their clinical applications.