Dr. Naoki Tajiri, PT, PhD, Assistant Professor in the School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and the Department of Neurosurgery & Brain Repair, is one of 3 equally contributing first authors on a manuscript recently accepted for publication in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience. “Intravenous transplants of human adipose-derived stem cell protect the brain from TBI-induced neurodegeneration and motor and cognitive impairments: Cell graft bio-distribution and soluble factors in young and aged rats” will appear in an early 2014 issue of the journal.

Dr. Sandra Acosta and Dr. Md Shahaduzzaman, both from the USF Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair (CABR), were equally contributing first authors with Dr. Tajiri. Dr. Cesar Borlongan (CABR) and Dr. Paula Bickford (CABR) served as corresponding authors. Other contributing authors from CABR include Dr.Hiroto Ishikawa, Dr. Kazutaka Shinozuka, Dr. Mibel Pabon, Diana Hernandez-Ontiveros, Christopher Metcalf, Meghan Staples, Travis Dailey, Julie Vasconcellos, Giorgio Franyuti, and Dr. Yuji Kaneko. Dr. Lisa Gould, Dr. Nikita Patel, and Dr. Denise Cooper, all of the James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Hospital and the USF Department of Molecular Medicine, were also contributing authors.

The Society for Neuroscience is the world’s largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 42,000 members in more than 90 countries and 130 chapters worldwide. Its mission is to advance the understanding of the brain and the nervous system by bringing together scientists of diverse backgrounds, by facilitating the integration of research directed at all levels of biological organization, and by encouraging translational research and the application of new scientific knowledge to develop improved disease treatments and cures.