Jacqueline C. Bresnahan, Ph.D.
 Professor 
Department of Neurological Surgery

In the News

Jacqueline Bresnahan named Science Advisory Council Chair for the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Click Here

Current Interests and Activities

Our laboratory is focused on understanding the biological underpinnings of neurotrauma, particularly spinal cord injury, with the goal of improving recovery for individuals who suffer damage to the nervous system. The lab has developed a number of models to study cellular, systems and behavioral changes that occur as a consequence of injury. Areas of current interest are cell death mechanisms including excitotoxicity, regeneration and repair especially of oligodendrocytes (the glial cells that produce myelin), neuroprotection, transplantation and mechanisms of functional recovery after cervical spinal cord injury in both rodent and primate models. 

Education, training and previous positions

1968 B.A. Psychology, Kent State University
1970 M.A. Psychology, The Ohio State University
1973 Ph.D. Psychology, The Ohio State University
1973-77 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dept. of Anatomy, The Ohio State University
1977-84 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anatomy, The Ohio State University.
1985-91 Associate Professor, Dept. of Anatomy, The Ohio State University
1991-1999 Professor, Dept. of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, The Ohio State University
1999-2006 Professor, Dept. of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University
2001-2006 Associate Dean for Basic Research, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University
2004-2006 Professor, Dept. of Psychology, The Ohio State University
2006-present  Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University
2006-present Professor, Dept. of Neurological Surgery, Brain and Spinal Injury Center, University of California, San Francisco

Selected  Professional Memberships and Appointments

1978, 1980, 1982-85, 1987, 1989 Scientific Advisory Consultant, NINDS, NIH
1983-1987 Member, Neurological Disorders Program Project Review A Committee, NIH
1985 Chairman, Site Visit Committee, NINDS, NIH
1985 Chairman, Special Study Section, NINDS, NIH
1991 Member, Special Review Panel, NIH
1982, 1991 Member, Technical Merit Review Panel, NINCDS, Bethesda, Md
1998–2002 Member, VA Merit Review Scientific Advisory Panel
2003–2008 Member, NSD-A Study Section, NINDS
2007-2008 Chair, NSD-A Study Section, NINDS
1994–1999 Scientific Advisory Council, American Paralysis Association
1999-present Scientific Advisory Council, Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, now The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
2001 - 2006 Scientific Review Panel, Texas Institute for Rehabilitation Research
1997-present Scientific Advisory Board, Acorda Therapeutics, Hawthorne, NY
1993–present Scientific Advisory Board, International Neurotrauma Society
1998 President, and 1992-95, 1999-01 Councilor, Nat’l Neurotrauma Society
2001-2006 Member, Committee on Women in Neuroscience, Society for Neuroscience
2000 -2006 Member, PPG External Advisory Board, University of Texas at Galveston
2001–present Member, COBRE Grant External Advisory Board, University of Louisville
2005-present  California Primate Research Consortium
2006-present  Member, Internal Advisory Board, Integrative Study of Brain Vascular  Malformations, UCSF
2003 Faculty Teaching Award, College of Medicine, OSU
2005 Neuroscience Teaching Award, Dept. of Neuroscience, OSU
Editorial Board: Journal of Neurotrauma, Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience
Guest Editorial Referee: Exp. Neurol., Brain Res., Science, J. Comp. Neurol., Neurosci., J. Neurosci., Neurosci. Lett.; Blood, Glia, J. Neurosci. Res., Nature Med.

Selected Recent Publications

Ferguson, AR, Hook MA, Garcia G, Bresnahan JC, Beattie MS, Grau JW (2004) A simple transformation that improves the metric properties of the BBB scale for rats with moderate to severe spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma, 21: 1601-1613.
Nout, YS, Schmidt, MH, Tovar, CA, Culp, E, Beattie, MS, Bresnahan, JC (2005) Telemetric monitoring of corpus spongiosum penis pressures in conscious rats for assessment of micturition and sexual function following spinal cord contusion injury. J. Neurotrauma, 22, 429-441.
Holmes, GM, Vanmeter, MJ, Beattie, MS, Bresnahan, JC (2005) Serotonergic fiber sprouting to external anal sphincter motoneurons after spinal cord contusion. Exp. Neurol.,193:29-42.
Miller, BA, Sun, F, Christensen, RN, Ferguson, AR, Bresnahan, JC, Beattie, MS (2005) A sublethal dose of TNF potentiates kainate-induced excitotoxicity in optic nerve oligodendrocytes. Neurochem. Res., 30:6-7, 867-875.
Nout, YS, Leedy, GM, Beattie, MS, Bresnahan, JC (2006) Alterations in eliminative and sexual reflexes after spinal cord injury: Defecatory function, and development of spasticity in pelvic floor musculature. In Weaver, LC, Polosa, C (Eds) Autonomic dysfunction after spinal cord injury: The problems and underlying mechanisms. Progress in Brain Research, 152: 359-372.
Gensel, JC, Tovar, CA, Hamers, FTP, Deibert, RC, Beattie, MS, Bresnahan, JC (2006) Behavioral and histological characterization of unilateral cervical spinal cord contusion injury in rats. J. Neurotrauma23:36-54.
Christensen, RN, Ha, BK, Sun, F, Bresnahan, JC and Beattie, MS (2006) Kainate induces rapid redistribution of the actin cytoskeleton in ameboid microglia. J. Neurosci. Res., 84: 170-181.
Nout YS, Bresnahan JC, Culp E, Tovar AC, Beattie MS, Schmidt MH (2006) Novel technique for monitoring micturition and sexual function in male rats using telemetry.  Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 292 (3):R1359-R1367.
Miller BA, Bresnahan JC, Beattie MS (2007) Apoptosis in nervous system injury. Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, Elsevier, in press.
Miller BA, Crum JM, Tovar CA, Ferguson AR, Bresnahan JC, Beattie MS (2007) Activated microglia reduce olidodendrocyte progenitor cell viability but protect mature oligodendrocytes from apoptotic cell death. J. Neuroinflammation, 4:27 (26 November, 2007) (online prepublication) http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/.
Mihai G, Nout YS, Miller BA, Tovar CA, Komon J, Schmalbrock P, Bresnahan JC, Beattie MS (2007) Characterization and comparison of two severities of cervical spinal cord injury in rats using magnetic resonance imaging. J Neurotrauma, in press.

Contact Information
Jacqueline C. Bresnahan, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. Neurological Surgery
Brain and Spinal Injury Center
University of California at San Francisco
SFGH Bldg 1, Room 101
1001 Potrero Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
Ph: 415-206-8319
Fax: 415-206-3948 
e-mail: jacqueline.bresnahan@ucsf.edu