• B.Sc. (Animal Sciences) Univ. of Shiraz, 1988
• M.Sc. (Anatomy), Univ. of Tehran, 1991
• Ph.D. (Developmental Neurobiology), Univ. of Saskatchewan, 2001
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Toronto Western Research Institute, 2001-2006
• Associate Neuroscientist, Toronto Western Research Institute, 2006-2009
• Assistant Professor (Neurosurgery and Anatomy), Univ. of Toronto, 2006-2009
• Assistant Professor (Physiology and Regenerative Medicine Program), Univ. of Manitoba, 2010-present

The Karimi Lab Homepage

Spinal Cord Injury and Stem Cell Laboratory

Research in our laboratory has focused on promoting repair and regeneration after spinal cord injury/disease using stem cell-based therapeutic approaches. Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in lifelong disabilities in its victim who are mostly children and young adults. To date, the treatment of SCI has remained an elusive goal. Our main research goal is to develop new and safe therapies to efficiently promote neurological recovery after SCI. Using pre-clinical models of SCI, we investigate the regenerative potential of multi-potent neural stem cells (NSCs) that reside within the adult spinal cord. Spinal cord NSCs have the inherited potential to replace all damaged spinal cells and reconstruct the SCI lesion. However, we currently lack understanding of the local factors that modulate the recruitment, survival and fate specification of resident NSCs in their post injury microenvironment. Our aim is to understand how the properties of NSCs are influenced by the profound cellular and biochemical changes that occur in the microenvironment of SCI.  We specifically focus on the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines and extracellular matrix components associated with reactive astrocytes and microglia in regulating the activation and differentiation of NSCs following injury. This knowledge is vital to develop new therapies to promote endogenous cell replacement required for the repair of SCI.

In our laboratory, we employ an array of advanced approaches in regenerative medicine and stem cell research that include in vivo spinal cord injury and micro-surgical techniques, stem cell/neural tissue culture, pharmacological drug delivery, cellular, biochemical and molecular techniques, fluorescence/confocal imaging, and functional/neurological analyses.  Our research has major translational implications in the fields of spinal cord injury and regenerative medicine.

Areas of research interest:

• Spinal cord injury
• Neural stem cells
• Regenerative Medicine
• Neural repair and plasticity
• Neuroinflammation and astrogliosis in neural stem cell regulation
• Mechanisms of spinal cord gliogenesis
• Directed in vivo oligodendroglial differentiation
• Preclinical therapeutic interventions in spinal cord injury
• Stem cell/Neural tissue culture studies

See Also:  

Spinal Cord Research Centre Profile
Search PubMed for publications by Karimi-Abdolrezaee S
Search PubMed for publications by Karimi-Abdolrezaee S available at UM HSC, St. B. or Victoria libraries
Regenerative Medicine Program profile for Dr. Karimi
MICH Profile for Dr. Karimi