David W. Nauen, MD, PhD
Pathology
Highlights
Johns Hopkins Affiliations:
- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
About David W. Nauen
Primary Academic Title
Assistant Professor of Pathology
Background
David Nauen, M.D., Ph.D., trained in the M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon where he studied mechanisms of spike-timing-dependent long-term plasticity, a reductionist model for memory. In 2010 Dr. Nauen came to Baltimore for residency and fellowship training. Working closely with collaborators in the Institute for Cell Engineering, Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Biomedical Engineering, Dr. Nauen’s studies involve molecular and functional analyses of hippocampal tissue in response to injury. The dentate gyrus is one of two brain areas that undergo neurogenesis throughout life, and Dr. Nauen is building a research program focused on understanding the contribution of this and other developmental processes in the pathogenesis of medial temporal lobe epilepsy and injury response more generally. Dr. Nauen joined our faculty in the Division of Autopsy with a secondary appointment in Neurology in May 2016.
Dr. Nauen's published work.
Lab Website
The Nauen Lab - Lab Website
- Epilepsy affects 1-3% of the population and can have a profound impact on general health, employment and quality of life. Medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) develops in some patients following head injury or repeated febrile seizures. Those affected may first suffer spontaneous seizures many years after the initial insult, indicating that the neural circuit undergoes a slow pathologic remodeling over the interim. There are currently no methods of preventing the development of MTLE. It is our goal to better understand the process in order to slow, halt, and ultimately reverse it. Our laboratory draws on electrophysiology, molecular biology, and morphology to study the contribution of dysregulated neurogenesis and newborn neuron connectivity to the development of MTLE. We build on basic research in stem cell biology, hippocampal development, and synaptic plasticity. We work closely with colleagues in the Institute for Cell Engineering, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Biomedical Engineering, and Radiology. As physician neuropathologists our grounding is in tissue alterations underlying human neurologic disease; using human iPSC-derived neurons and surgical specimens we focus on the pathophysiological processes as they occur in patients. By understanding changes in cell populations and morphologies that affect the circuit, and identifying pathologic alterations in gene expression that lead to the cell-level abnormalities, we hope to find treatment targets that can prevent the remodeling and break the feedback loop of abnormal activity > circuit change > abnormal activity.
PubMed
Memberships
- American Association of Neuropathologists
- Society for Neuroscience
Additional Training
- Fellowship: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine / Neuropathology (2014)
Locations
- The Johns Hopkins Hospital
- 1800 Orleans Street, Baltimore, MD 21287
- phone: 410-955-5000
- fax: 410-955-5001
Expertise
Education
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Residency, Pathology, 2014University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Medical Education, MD PhD, 2009Board Certifications
Anatomic Pathology
American Board of Pathology, 2014Neuropathology
American Board of Pathology, 2014Insurance
- Aetna
- CareFirst
- Cigna
- First Health
- Geisinger Health Plan
- HealthSmart/Accel
- Humana
- Johns Hopkins Health Plans
- MultiPlan
- Pennsylvania's Preferred Health Networks (PPHN)
- Point Comfort Underwriters
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- UnitedHealthcare
- Veteran Affairs Community Care Network (Optum-VACCN)