Dr Matthew Campbell graduated from University College Dublin (UCD) in 2006 with a PhD in Biochemistry followed by Post-doctoral research in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in Human Molecular Genetics (2006-2012). He has published extensively on the use of RNA interference (RNAi) to modulate levels of distinct tight junction proteins at the blood-brain barrier/inner blood retina barrier (BBB/iBRB) in vivo. Additionally, he has published numerous articles focused on understanding the molecular pathology of diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Alzheimer's disease, Schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

My laboratory focuses primarily on the molecular biology and physiology of the vasculature associated with neural tissues. We use genetic and molecular biology based approaches to explore the interplay between neural tissues and the systemic circulation. One major topic of my research is centred on the tight junctions located between microvascular endothelial cells of the blood brain and inner blood retina barriers (BBB/iBRB) and how these barriers function in health and disease. We aim to develop technologies to address an unmet clinical need for a range of neural conditions that currently have limited forms of therapeutic intervention and these include Alzheimer Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), traumatic brain injury (TBI), chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

In addition to translational interests, our lab is also heavily focused on elucidating the under-lying mechanisms of the diseases we are studying and this has led to novel findings associated with the molecular pathology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and schizophrenia. Identification of novel therapeutic targets has the potential to rapidly translate to new medicines and this is a strong focus of the lab at present.