Brain hypoxia and ischemia

Current research interests of Dr. Kui Xu are to study ischemia/reperfusion injury in brain and test treatment strategies using animal models. She has expertise and experience in focal and global ischemia models including middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats/mice and cardiac arrest and resuscitation in rats. The other focus of her research is the study of adaptation to hypoxia. Her studies emphasize on the use of animal models for measuring blood flow, substrate uptake by the brain, glucose and energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, as well as angiogenesis and vascular remodeling. The specific factors contributing to hypoxic adaptation (e.g. angiogenesis) has been studied using transgenic mice, such as HIF-1/2 knockout mice and COX-2 knockout mice. Other research interests include the effects of environmental enrichment on brain vasculature, cognitive function and hypoxic adaptation, hyperoxia-induced white matter damage, and ischemic/hypoxic insult in aged animals.