معرفی
Dr. Darrell Smith serves as a Research Scientist leading the Neurodegenerative Drug Discovery Lab within the Division of Neurodegenerative Disorders, focusing on developing therapeutic agents for peripheral neuropathies and other neurodegenerative conditions.
His research addresses the critical limitation of current treatments—which only manage symptoms through pain relievers, anti-seizure medications, and antidepressants—by seeking compounds capable of preventing onset, reversing progression, or alleviating symptoms of peripheral neuropathies. The lab employs in vitro primary sensory neuron cultures from adult animals to study neuronal survival, axonal regeneration, and cellular bioenergetics, alongside in vivo rodent models of Type I and Type II diabetes that consistently exhibit peripheral neuropathy for compound screening.
Key methodologies include behavioral testing (Hargreaves, von Frey), corneal confocal microscopy, fluorescent microscopy, Western blotting, and mitochondrial function assays. This integrated approach enables evaluation of compounds' efficacy in repairing and preventing neuropathies across experimental systems, targeting the underlying pathogenesis rather than symptomatic relief.
