Guest Editors
James Goldman
Columbia University, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology
James E. Goldman received his MD and PhD (neurobiology) from New York University School of Medicine and residency training in Neuropathology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he remained for several years before moving to the Department of Pathology at Columbia University, where he has worked for the last 30 years. He was Director of the Neuropathology service at Columbia for 25 years, and is still Director of the Neuropathology Residency Training Program. His clinical duties include diagnosis of neurosurgical specimens and autopsy brains. His laboratory work has focused on cellular and molecular studies of central nervous system (CNS) glia - astrocytes and oligodendrocytes - investigating their development and the changes they undergo in neurological diseases. He has served on NIH Study Sections, on the editorial boards of many neuroscience and neuropathology journals and published many papers on the features of glial cells. He has mentored many PhD and MD/PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, neuropathology trainees, and young faculty members. Recently he has collaborated with Dr. Osama Al Dalahmah in their ongoing studies of how CNS cells change their patterns of gene expression in neurological diseases using a new technique called single nuclei RNA sequencing, in which gene expression in single cell nuclei isolated from fresh frozen brain tissues can be examined. Dr. Al Dalahmah and he have found many changes in neurons and glia in the inherited, neurodegenerative disorder, Huntington Disease, and are embarking on studies of brains of patients with Parkinson Disease.
Osama Al Dalahmah
Columbia University, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology
Dr. Osama Al Dalahmah received his MD from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jordan (2010), and his DPhil in Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics from the University of Oxford (2015). His thesis and postdoctoral work focused on advancing our understanding the molecular regulation of gliogenesis and gliomagenesis. Dr. Al Dalahmah then completed his residency and fellowship training in anatomic pathology and neuropathology, respectively, at Columbia University (2016-2020). He is now an instructor in neuropathology in the department of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University. Clinically, his duties include diagnosis of neurosurgical specimens and brain autopsies. Understanding the cellular and molecular underpinnings of astrocytic dysfunction in various diseases afflicting the central nervous system drives his research efforts. He currently applies cutting edge genomic techniques including single nucleus RNA sequencing to investigate the states of astrocytic dysfunction in multiple neurodegenerative and neoplastic diseases. Dr. Al Dalahmah continues to benefit from mentorship and guidance from Dr. James Goldman, whom he collaborates with on multiple projects.
Collection Overview
Astrocytes are major non-neuronal cells in the mammalian central nervous system and play integral roles in maintaining homeostasis in the brain. These roles include providing trophic support to neurons, preserving synaptic function, clearing excess potassium, ATP, and glutamate from extracellular spaces, and maintaining the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. Astrocytic functions are compromised in numerous diseases including neurodegeneration, trauma, ischemia, epilepsy, and cancers. Therefore, understanding astrocytic function and dysfunction is pivotal for uncovering disease mechanisms and providing avenues to modify disease course and establishing methodologies to interrogate astrocyte function is crucial in advancing the field of neuroscience. This collection aims to demonstrate key techniques used to investigate astrocyte function at baseline and in diseases. The methods illustrated in this collection include astrocyte isolation and enrichment, differentiation from pluripotent stem cells and glial progenitors, calcium imaging, and single cell RNA sequencing.
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