Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases

Collaborating across scientific disciplines to understand the role of inflammation and the neuro-immune interface in disease.

Exploring brain-body connection

Our goal is to understand the complex interactions between the brain and body that maintain health. This understanding allows insight into the underlying causes for devastating diseases that dramatically impact quality of life and survival. We focus on the role of inflammation and the interplay of the nervous and immune systems as the mediator of disease.

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Collaboration across fields

By working together across scientific disciplines, the researchers gain the greatest benefit from their work. Work in one area of research often offers insight in different, but related areas. Our members hold doctorates in immunology, medicine, neuroscience, physiology, psychology, radiation biology, and materials science engineering and have extensive experience across multiple basic science and medical fields.

Areas of Research

Addiction

Studying the interplay of addiction and neurological inflammation to find new treatments

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Alzheimer's Disease

Improving the understanding of disease mechanisms, prevention, detection and intervention.

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Atherosclerosis

Investigating interactions between the immune system, blood vessels and brain activity.

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Glioblastoma Multiforme

Studying how nervous system inflammation affects growth and progression of this brain tumor.

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Cognition and Cancer

Examining causes of chemobrain and beamobrain to reduce functional impairments.

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Epilepsy

Learning the roles inflammation and the immune system play in epilepsy.

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Instrumentation

Developing sensing and imaging technologies to find how neural cells and circuits interact.

Metabolic Diseases

Understanding how organs communicate via the extracellular vesicles.

Pain

Studying ways to provide improved understanding and treatment of chronic back pain.

Sleep

Exploring the role that sleep plays in improving or worsening health and disease.

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Space Neuroscience

Studying how stress and radiation impact astronauts on long space journeys.

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Stress

Analyzing the ways stress amplifies disease down to the level of the neuron.

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Trainees play a key role in research

CINID graduate trainees benefit from a dynamic research environment as well as elective classes that encompass many research fields and are tailored to meet student needs. Current CINID trainees work on projects funded by the American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

Learn about our graduate trainee program

CINID member labs support students who wish to gain research experiences as part of their training. These experiences can be gained through volunteering, summer projects and rotations. Many projects result in EVMS Research Day presentations and/or authorship on publications.

Learn about student research opportunities