David Limbrick, MD, PhD

2018 Discovery Science Award Recipient

TITLE: Professor, Washington University in St. Louis

GOAL: Test a new drug to prevent the development of posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus by protecting the cells that line the ventricles

Overview:

Dr. David Limbrick received his MD and PhD at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. He is now a Professor of Neurological Surgery and Pediatrics and the Neurosurgeon-in-Chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Dr. Limbrick is a principal investigator for the HA-funded Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN.org) and runs a basic science laboratory focused on hydrocephalus and other cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) disorders.

This study, “ADAM 10 Inhibition: a novel therapeutic strategy for posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus of prematurity,” will investigate how blood damages the cells that line the ventricles and test if a specific drug can stop this damage and prevent hydrocephalus. This work builds on previous findings that the proteins that hold these cells together are damaged in many forms of hydrocephalus and that this damage may actually cause the hydrocephalus. If this drug can stop that damage from occurring, we may be able to stop hydrocephalus from developing after a brain bleed.