Jerome Ricard

Jerome Ricard, PhD, serves as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Biology at Drexel University, where he conducts neuroscience research within Professor John Bethea's laboratory. His work focuses on neuroinflammation and pain mechanisms across spinal cord injury, peripheral neuropathy, and multiple sclerosis models, leveraging over 20 years of specialized experience transferred from the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis in 2014.

Education

• PhD in Biology, Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble, France (1998)

Research Focus
Dr. Ricard's investigations center on Eph/ephrin signaling pathways and dependence receptors in neural injury contexts. His work examines molecular mechanisms of cell death, neurogenesis, and oligodendrocyte survival following spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, with particular emphasis on TNF signaling modulation and autonomic dysreflexia. Current projects integrate high-content screening of small-molecule libraries to target EphA4 receptor functions.

Publication Trends
Analysis of his 15 most recent publications (2002-2021) reveals consistent thematic progression: early work established EphrinB3's role in adult neurogenesis (2006), evolving into detailed mechanistic studies of EphB3 dependence receptors in oligodendrocyte death (2015) and TNF-mediated vascular dysfunction (2018). Recent publications increasingly focus on translational pain modeling (2021) and neuroprotective therapeutic delivery systems.

Mentorship & Teaching
Dr. Ricard actively trains the next generation of scientists through direct supervision of one master's student, four undergraduate STAR scholars, and numerous volunteer researchers. In the classroom, he teaches core courses including Neuroscience, Developmental Biology, Genetics, and Cellular & Molecular Biology while serving as faculty mentor for senior capstone proposals.

Research Environment
As a key member of Bethea's laboratory, Dr. Ricard contributes to Drexel's spinal cord injury research infrastructure established through the 2014 transition from the Miami Project. The lab maintains specialized expertise in contusion injury models, neural stem cell culture systems, and neuroinflammatory pathway analysis across rodent and cellular platforms.