INVESTIGATORS
Susan E. Mackinnon, MD, Professor of Surgery
Susan is a professor and the chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. She is considered an expert in peripheral nerve surgery. Mackinnon earned her medical degree from Queens University and completed a plastic surgery residency at the University of Toronto. She completed fellowships in neurosurgical research at the University of Toronto and hand surgery at the Raymond Curtis Hand Center. Mackinnon founded and is a principal investigator within the Peripheral Nerve Surgical Research Laboratories. Her primary focus is the role of a novel cell discovered during nerve injury and regeneration: the senescent Schwann cell.
Amy M. Moore, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery
Amy is an assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. She earned her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine and completed a combined plastic surgical residency and a clinical research fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. She pursued her clinical interests by completing an orthopedic hand fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She is a principal investigator within the Peripheral Nerve Surgical Research Laboratories. She is interested in the management and mechanisms responsible for the development of symptomatic neuroma.
Matthew D. Wood, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery
Matt is an assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He received his graduate degrees in biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. He did his post-doctoral work at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto under the co-mentorship of Drs. Gregory Borschel and Tessa Gordon. This research focused on the development of biomaterials and drug delivery approaches to promote nerve regeneration. He is a principal investigator within the Peripheral Nerve Surgical Research Laboratories and serves as the director. He is focused on improving and understanding nerve scaffolds to facilitate new tissue formation and functional regeneration due to severe nerve injuries.
STAFF
Dan Hunter, RA, Senior Scientist
Dan has over 30 years’ experience in histology and microscopic analysis of nerve. He performs all histology analysis of nerve for the group including both light and electron microscopy.
Xueping Ee, MD, MA, Scientist
Xueping has a background and a graduate degree in immunobiology. He is an expert at molecular biology and cell culture, where his projects include the study of Schwann cells and their phenotypes as well as cell transplantation approaches.
Lauren Schellhardt, BA, Research Assistant and Lab Manager
Lauren has a veterinary background. She coordinates the regulatory aspects of the lab including environmental health and safety, lab equipment and certification, supply procurement, as well as animal care. She also coordinates animal husbandry and the immunohistochemical analysis of tissues.
TRAINEES
Alexandra E. Halevi, BS, MD, Post-doctoral Associate
Alex is a post-doctoral research associate performing scholarship during her surgical residency at New York Presbyterian. She is researching aspects of symptomatic neuroma including two different translatable therapies to manage the treatment of symptomatic neuroma as well as markers indicative of clinical neuroma. She is working under the supervision and mentorship of Amy Moore.
Deng Pan, BS, MSTP (MD/PhD) Student
Deng is a graduate student in the medical scientist training program (MSTP) within the Division of Biology and Biological Sciences (DBBS). He is researching how the cellular repopulation of acellular scaffolds to repair nerve is impacted due to scaffold size (or length). He is working under the supervision and mentorship of Susan Mackinnon and Matthew Wood.
Sally Jo, BS, Medical Student (MD5 program)
Sally is a medical student participating in the MD5 program. She is researching how electrical stimulation can be translated to the clinic to improve the surgical treatment of nerve injuries. She is working under the supervision and mentorship of Susan Mackinnon and Matthew Wood.