When Dr. Joel Pachter was eight years old, his father gave him his first chemistry set. Since those early days of kitchen table experiments Dr. Pachter has established a productive research career studying the central nervous system as a tenured Professor in the Department of Immunology at UConn Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a kid I just used to play with chemicals and chemistry sets \u2013 now I get to do that for a living and I enjoy what I do, I am never bored,\u201d Dr. Pachter says. \u201cEvery day is exciting, every day I learn something and so I continually think it\u2019s an honor and pleasure to do what I do. For me it\u2019s not a job, it never has been, it\u2019s something I’ve always wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an undergraduate, Dr. Pachter was fascinated by the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord. Specifically, Dr. Pachter was interested in how the CNS influences mental illness.<\/p>\n
After graduation, Dr. Pachter completed a fellowship in psychopharmacology at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan studying how drugs affect behavior and how the brain controls aspects of behavior.<\/p>\n
Until relatively recently, people with mental illness were often institutionalized for life, in some cases under horrible conditions. With the advent of new pharmaceuticals, most people with mental illness can live independent lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was fascinated by how drugs could correct those behaviors and from there I became more and more fascinated by how the nervous system worked in general and so I just continued to pursue that,\u201d Dr. Pachter says.<\/p>\n
Taking Research Chances <\/strong><\/p>\n After completing his fellowship at Mario Negri, Dr. Pachter obtained his Ph.D. in pharmacology at NYU, School of Medicine. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In 1987, he took a faculty position at UConn Health.<\/p>\n Dr. Pachter\u2019s research has evolved since his arrival on the Farmington campus, now focusing on how the CNS plays a role in inflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Dr. Pachter has found that many of the same mediators that influence behavior and mental illness, also play a role in controlling inflammatory diseases.<\/p>\n Dr. Pachter explains that the CNS and immune system have an important relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re starting to understand that the brain and the immune system contact each other regularly and interact and that certain diseases are the result of imperfect or disturbed communications between the immune system and the nervous system,\u201d Dr. Pachter says. \u201cI\u2019m again very fortunate to be at the dawn of that kind of research. We\u2019re just beginning to open some doors and understand the interactions between the systems.\u201d<\/p>\n One application for this work is in using stem cells to treat MS<\/a>. Dr. Pachter is working with ImStem Biotechnology, a UConn TIP company, on clinical trials.<\/p>\n The thought behind this approach is that stem cells are a naturally occurring part of the body. Stem cells can, in theory, produce or repair any cell type. Stem cells also play an important role in suppressing the inflammatory response in MS.<\/p>\n Dr. Pachter\u2019s work is in coaxing the stem cells to engage in their natural functions in a way that will help repair the nervous system.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we find that it\u2019s not just their replacement capability, but the fact that these are little, basically, drug stores of lots of anti-inflammatory factors that can release these anti-inflammatory factors and quiet down a situation that\u2019s inflamed and then allow the brain and the spinal cord to begin to repair itself,\u201d Dr. Pachter says.<\/p>\n Pre-clinical studies showed the stem cells could enter the brain and spinal cord to execute therapeutic effects for MS in mouse models.<\/p>\n Dr. Pachter is also currently working on a study of the meninges, the triple-layered membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord.<\/p>\n For years, scientists believed the meninges were just protective casings for the CNS. In recent years, it has become clear that the meninges are the site where inflammation originates and that even minor changes to the meninges can impact the brain or spinal cord.<\/p>\n Dr. Pachter is using cutting-edge imaging technologies to better understand how the meninges work under normal and pathological conditions.<\/p>\n Better understanding the meninges\u2019 function may open the door to new therapeutics. Since the meninges are on the surface of the brain and spinal cord, they can be more easily accessed for surgery or pharmaceutical interventions.<\/p>\n Another area of Dr. Pachter\u2019s current research is looking at extracellular vesicles. These tiny particles carry proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and other components between cells. They are released by almost every cell type in the human body. Dr. Pachter is looking at the extracellular vesicles released by the cells that form the lining of blood vessels in the brain.<\/p>\n I like to think that I\u2019m always at the boundary of what\u2019s pioneering out there. — Dr. Joel Pachter<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Dr. Pachter hypothesizes that these vesicles facilitate communication with white blood cells, which combat infection in the body. These cells are also responsible for neuroinflammatory disease. Dr. Pachter is investigating how these vesicles direct the blood cells to the brain and spinal cord at the beginning of neuroinflammatory disease.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more we know about that communication, the more likely we are to be able to develop means to antagonize that and prevent that from happening,\u201d Dr. Pachter says.<\/p>\n Throughout his career as a researcher, Dr. Pachter\u2019s work has focused on taking chances and working on the cutting-edge of science.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to think that I\u2019m always at the boundary of what\u2019s pioneering out there,\u201d Dr. Pachter says. \u201cI like to take chances. Chances make the work very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBiology Isn\u2019t Simple\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n One lesson Dr. Pachter tries to impart to his students is that \u201cbiology isn\u2019t simple.\u201d Understanding how the body works under normal conditions allows scientists to then understand how they work under pathological conditions and develop treatments.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s important to understand how critical it is to look at where disease originates from instead of looking at disease at the end of the line,\u201d Dr. Pachter says. \u201cIf we\u2019re starting to appreciate that a lot of inflammatory diseases actually begin in the meninges, if we can target therapies to those sites, we\u2019re more apt to be able to put the disease process on hold than if you were to have to work so far downstream where the disease has already progressed.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Pachter says that after decades in the field, he is still constantly surprised and excited by this work, which looks different every day.<\/p>\n \u201cA career in science is something that should be looked at as a true honor that you\u2019re able to do things that no one else has done before and you can leave your imprint on society just by making even the slightest discoveries,\u201d Dr. Pachter says. \u201cYou never know who\u2019s going to pick up on those discoveries and advance them in such a way that they have tremendous impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow UConn Research on<\/em> Twitter<\/em><\/a> &<\/em> LinkedIn<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr. Joel Pachter, professor of immunology, has always been fascinated by the central nervous system. 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