About
Diego Gomez-Nicola is a Professor of Neuroimmunology within the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton. As a neuroscientist, Prof Gomez-Nicola is interested in unveiling the roles of glial cells in the healthy and diseased brain, as a way to understand the fascinating complexity of our brain.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Neuroimmunology
- Neurodegeneration
- Glial cells
- Microglia
Current research
My research is focused in the understanding of the multicellular response of the CNS to injury or neurodegeneration, aiming at providing an integrative and detailed study of the functions and cross-regulation of the different cell components during neuropathology.
In the past I studied the role of proinflammatory cytokines in the regulation of the activation state of glial cells, in the context of brain inflammation, spinal cord injury, neuropathic pain or multiple sclerosis.
The goal of my current research is to study the regulation of microglial proliferation during chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as prion or Alzheimer's. The expansion of the microglial population is a hallmark of neurodegeneration and contributes to the development of the pathology. A detailed understanding of the molecules and mechanisms orchestrating microglial proliferation could open a window to elaborate therapeutic approaches to control the neuroinflammatory component of the disease.