Ali Fatemi, M.D.

Dr. Fatemi is also a research scientist who focuses on genetic and acquired conditions that lead to cerebral palsy. In the laboratory, his team has developed a number of animal models of neonatal brain injury with a focus on testing different therapeutic interventions including stem cell therapies in these models. He has authored over 20 scientific articles and several book chapters and has co-edited a book on leukodystrophies.

The brain's white matter consists of axons that build up a complex network of connections between different neurons. Axons are wrapped by oligodendrocytes, cells that produce myelin, a thick membrane that isolates and protects the axons. Other cellsastrocytesare important constituents of white matter, supporting brain metabolism and acting as gatekeepers for nutrients that enter the brain. Disorders of white matter can affect axons, oligodendrocytes or astroyctes. Perinatally acquired white matter injury is the leading cause of cerebral palsy and other neuropsychiatric conditions in children born prematurely. Dr. Fatemi is a member of the neuroscience laboratory and the F.M. Kirby Research Center for functional brain imaging. He collaborates closely with a multi-disciplinary group of scientists at the Hugo W. Moser Research Institute and at Johns Hopkins to study the molecular mechanism involved in white matter development and injury in cerebral palsy and perinatal white matter injury, using molecular, histological and advanced MRI techniques to examine rodent models. The neuroscience laboratory also uses animal models as a test bed for cell-based therapeutic approaches, including stem cells and progenitor cells derived from mouse embryos. Dr. Fatemi and his colleagues evaluate the survival of transplanted cells in injured animals, and how they migrate to the desired site and eventually restore white matter function, either by differentiation into more mature cells or by providing support to the injured tissue. Dr. Fatemi is also a member of the Neurogenetics Research Center at Kennedy Krieger and is involved in clinical and imaging research studies of patients with X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy.