Faculty Spotlight: Mechanisms of Early-life Brain Injury with Ana Cristancho, MD, PhD

Ana Cristancho, MD, PhD

Editor's Note: Meet the dedicated and distinctive faculty who are discovering and developing pediatric life-changing solutions at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute, in our monthly Faculty Spotlight series. This year, we're learning about the unique hobbies of our faculty that help them unwind and relax after working hard to improve pediatric health and care. In this Q&A, we meet Ana Cristancho, MD, PhD, an Assistant Professor and Neurologist specializing in fetal and neonatal neurology. Stay tuned for more from our Faculty Spotlight series throughout the year.

Why did you choose to focus on your research specialty?

Brain injury from prenatal or perinatal insults, ranging from hypoxia to inflammation to bleeds, is the most common cause of neurodevelopmental disabilities worldwide. Yet, we don't understand many of the mechanisms of these injuries' long-term effects, so we lack targeted therapies. As a clinician-scientist, I want to help this large, but generally underserved, group of children.

Can you tell us about a current or recent research project that you are excited about?

We are trying to unravel some of the mechanisms that account for the variability of outcomes. Clinically, there is still a large gap in predicting outcomes well for families, given the outcomes possible from even injuries that appear similar. This observation has led us to ask, at a cellular level, if there is variability in the response that leads to changes in cell maturation and function.

I specifically focus on the effects of these injuries at the intersection between cell metabolism and epigenetic regulation, starting with a model of transient hypoxia, which occurs when the brain doesn't receive enough oxygen for a temporary period. However, we are applying high-throughput multi-omics methods to a variety of different injuries to identify if there is a common signature to different injuries that we can target.

What are the long-term research questions you hope to answer?

My hope is to understand the effects of early life-brain injuries on cell maturation so that we can develop and offer targeted treatments to children early on, as well as later in life, that can improve their ability to gain developmental skills and thrive.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time when you're not working on research?

I have a 4-year-old who keeps me busy. I also really enjoy bike riding, traveling, and recently trying — with questionable results — urban gardening.

How do you balance your research work with your personal interests?

My family is great about helping me keep things balanced. As my child gets older, it is wonderful teaching her about science and seeing her enthusiasm in learning about the world when we travel. I also like to go on bike rides on the weekend when the weather is warm; it lets my mind wander and sometimes allows me to come up with new research ideas. The jury is still out on whether I can pull off a city garden!