Ritzel Lab
Rodney Ritzel PhD, Assistant Professor
Education & Training
PhD University of Connecticut Health Center – Farmington, CT
Postdoctoral Fellowship University of Maryland School of Medicine – Baltimore, MD
Areas of Interest
Clinical interests: neurotrauma, age-related cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative diseases
Research interests: brain injury-induced immune dysfunction, neuro-immune interactions, inflammatory neurodegeneration, and neuroinflamm-aging
Research & Experience
Dr. Ritzel’s laboratory explores the intersection of aging, brain injury, and immunity. His research is focused on identifying systemic factors and immune mechanisms that regulate CNS homeostasis and the pathogenesis of brain injury, with special emphasis on the role of aging. His work seeks to discover novel preclinical treatment strategies to enhance long-term neurological recovery, reduce risk or severity of neurodegenerative disease, and promote healthy brain aging.
Patrick Devlin, PhD – Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Education & Training
BS Biology with a minor in Neuroscience, Davidson College – Davidson, NC (2016)
PhD Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience concentration, University of Tennessee Health Science Center – Memphis, TN (2022)
Areas of Interest
Clinical interests: neurotrauma and neurodegenerative diseases
Research interests: neuroinflammatory response following traumatic brain injury, neuro-immune reactions, inflammatory neurodegeneration
Research & Experience
After graduating from Davidson College, I worked as a Research Laboratory Assistant at Duke University under Dr. Soderling. The research I participated in while there investigated the essential role for InSyn1 in dystroglycan complex integrity. I then attended The University of Tennessee Health Science Center as a Graduate Researcher under Dr. Stanfill. My research focused on the role of cytokines in the inflammatory response following hemorrhagic stroke and how Verapamil inhibits TXNIP-NLRP3 inflammasome activation after intracerebral hemorrhage. Currently, I am investigating the neuroinflammatory response following traumatic brain injury.
Hobbies & Interests
In my free time I enjoy backpacking, camping, exercising, and cooking.
Romeesa Khan – GSBS Graduate Student Research Assistant
Education & Training
BS Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences, University of Houston – Houston, TX
Areas of Interest
Research interests: Neuroimmunology, vascular dementia, chronic stroke, neonatal injury/TBI, vascular immunology
Clinical interests: Neurosurgery, vascular neurology, pediatrics, trauma surgery
Research & Experience
-Research Assistant, Department of Neurology – UT Health – Houston, TX (2022-2023)
-BRAINS Summer Research Program, Department of Neurology – UT Health – Houston, TX (2021)
-Research Technician – Department of Symptom Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center – Houston, TX (2019)
Research Assistants
Trang H Do
Education & Training
MS Biology, University of Houston – Houston, TX (2022)