Brinda Desai Bradaric, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and Program Director of the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences program within the College of Health Sciences. She is also the Associate Discipline Director of Pharmacology in the Medical College. Dr. Bradaric is a member of the Center for Compulsive Behavior and Addiction.
Current Projects
Methamphetamine abuse as a risk factor for Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a devastating neurological disorder. Its etiology is unclear, but both genetic and environmental factors are contributors. The abused drug methamphetamine (meth) and particular pesticides (e.g., rotenone) are known to damage dopamine neurons in the brain; people who abuse meth or are exposed to rotenone may be more likely to get develop PD.
This project focuses on the pathological link between meth addiction and PD. The long-term goals to describe biomakers that identify meth-abusing individuals at risk for PD. Using meth self-adminstering rats, Dr. Bradaric's interest focuses on early stage pathogenic biomakers in the brain olfactory bulb and the gut. With this early detection our goal is to also provide treatments that can slow/halt the progression that leads to PD. This goal dovetails into Dr. Bradaric's post graduate training drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases at Northwestern University.
Selected publications
Note: Bradaric previously published as B.S. Desai.
Persons AL, Bradaric BD, Dodiya HB, Ohene-Nyako M, Forsyth CB, Keshavarizian A, Shaikh M, Napter TC. (2018) "Colon dysregulation in methamphetamine self-adminstering HIV-1 transgenic rats." PloS One. 13(1):e0190078.
Watterson DM, Tokars VL, Roy SM, Schavoky JP, Bradaric Desai B, et al. (2013) “Revisiting Small Molecule In Vivo Probes for Protein Kinases: p38aMAPK as a CNS Target for Attenuation of Synaptic Dysfunction.” PloS One. 8(6):e66226.
Bradaric Desai B, Patel A, Schneider JA, Carvey PM, Hendey B. (2011) “Evidence for Angiogenesis in Parkinson’s Disease, Incidental Lewy Body Disease, and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.” J Neural Transm. 119:59-71.
Patel A, Colletta K, Bradaric Desai B, Toia G, Carvey PM, Hendey B. (2011) “An Angiogenic Inhibitor, Cyclic RGDfV, Attenuates MPTP-Induced Dopamine Neuron Toxicity.” 2011. Exp Neurol. 231:160-70.
Desai BS, Schneider JA, Li J, Carvey PM, Hendey B. (2009) “Evidence of Angiogenic Vessels in Alzheimer’s Disease.” J Neural Transm. 116: 587-97.
Desai BS, Carvey PM, Hendey B. (2008) “Inhibiting Complement Activation and Infiltration as a Therapeutic Strategy in Alzheimer’s Disease.” Alzheimer’s disease: New Research. Ed. Anouk M. Visser. Nova Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-60456-481-5.
Desai BS, Monahan A, Carvey PM, Hendey B. (2007) “Blood-Brain Barrier Pathology in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease: Implications for Drug Therapy.” Cell Transplant. 16:285-300.
Carvey PM, Zhao CH, Hendey B, Lum H, Trachtenberg J, Desai BS, Snyder J, Zhu G, Ling ZD. (2005) “6- Hydoxydopamine-Induced Alterations in Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability.” Eur J Neurosci. 22:1158-1168.