Douglas C. Hooper

Douglas C. Hooper is a Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at the College of Life Sciences. His laboratory investigates CNS immunity, focusing on the balance between protective and destructive neuroinflammatory processes. Research examines blood-brain barrier (BBB) modulation mechanisms and their impact on neurodegenerative conditions, viral infections, and brain cancer therapeutics.

Primary interests include:

• Peroxynitrite-dependent radical dynamics in BBB integrity
• Therapeutic immune effector delivery for neurotropic viruses
• Urate-based strategies to inhibit pathological CNS inflammation
• Immune evasion mechanisms in rabies virus pathogenesis

The lab develops approaches to manipulate immune cell trafficking across the BBB, with applications in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and CNS tumor therapy.