Meet Our Lab Members
Check out our “current lab members” page to find out what each of us is up to!
Changing the Therapeutic Paradigm of TBI
Millions of people each year suffer from neural injury and disease with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke being chief among them.
iPSC-NSCs with potential
Our lab is working with induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cell lines (HIP-NSCs) in an effort to examine their potential to regenerate damaged brain tissue after a…
Using neural stem cells to study stroke
We try to understand the extent to which our stem cell lines are able to form functional neural cells in the stroke environment.
Meet our pigs!
Through pigs like these, we are looking to determine if NSCs can survive and integrate into an injury site within the brain. Someday, we hope this type of…
Stereotaxic Injector System
Induced pluripotent neural stem cells are transplanted into the penumbra region of the infarct (area of tissue damage) using a stereotaxic injector device.
Porcine induced pluripotent stem cells
These cells come in as many colors as there maybe potential cures discovered by their use. Pig iPSCs: POU5F1 (red), SOX2 (green), DNA (blue).
Chimeric pigs generated from iPS cells
…and 29 chimeric pigs were born into the world. This is the first derivation of live chimeric animals generated from iPS cells in any species outside of the mouse.
The mission of the West Laboratory is the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke. TBI and stroke are leading causes of long-term disability and death in the United States. The West Laboratory focuses on regenerative therapies that promote neurogenesis, angiogenesis and activation of neuroprotective pathways with an emphasis on stem cell therapies. The West Laboratory breakthrough discoveries have shown that patient derived neural stem cells can replace lost neural cells and regenerate and stabilize damaged brain tissue leading to improvements in motor function, behavior, and cognition. The West Laboratory also develops magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain structural and functional assessment technologies to better predict learning, memory, and motor function deficits and long-term prognosis for patients that have suffered from TBI and stroke.
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Congratulations Taber on your first place finish in the ADS-REBI three minute thesis competition! Making science accessible to the masses and research statistically significant!
Congratulations Maria on your big win at the ADS/REBI 3 minute thesis competition today! #girlboss 👍
We can’t get enough of those great CURO moments!! Thank you Abigail for all of your hard work throughout the year! 🐷🐽🐖👩🏻🔬
We had another amazing night of science at the CURO symposium watching Lauren present some of her transformative work! 👩🏻🔬🧪
Congratulations to Maria for making a splash and winning third place at the 2026 Regenerative Bioscience Center & Animal Dairy Science
Research Symposium poster competition!! 🥼🧬
Congratulations Charlie on your 1st place finish in the poster competition at the 2026 Regenerative Bioscience Center & Animal Dairy Science
Research Symposium!! 👩🏻🔬🧫
Congratulations Moira for winning second place in the oral presentation competition at the 2026 Regenerative Bioscience Center & Animal Dairy Science Research Symposium!!
We had a great time at the RBC Research Symposium yesterday! Can’t wait for next year! 🧫🧪🔬
Congratulations Maria for winning the RBC Excellence in Instruction and Mentoring Award!🥇
We had an amazing time at the CAES Undergraduate Research Conference today! We have the best undergraduates at UGA!! 🧫🧬🧪
Great job Lauren at your poster presentation! The work that you’ve done in the Kaiser lab is truly amazing! @erinmahnken5503
I had a great time at the University of Maryland School of Medicine talking about science, breakthroughs, and great food! Looking forward to the 6th SIGN Conference to continue the conversations and fun! 🧫🧬🧪
