# Local slow wave sleep in repair and recovery after stroke

> **NIH NIH K08** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $188,560

## Abstract

The goal of this mentored career development award is to enable the candidate’s transition to independence
as a physician-scientist studying the connection between plasticity, sleep and stroke. The candidate is an MD,
PhD sleep neurologist with a background in engineering, human sleep electrophysiology and how it relates to
brain plasticity. The award will help the candidate gain experience in basic genetic, molecular and in-vivo
imaging techniques as well as an in-depth knowledge of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in
plasticity mediated neuronal repair. This award will help the candidate to become an independent physician
scientist using sleep as way to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and its application to the care of
individuals with neurological disease. This career development award brings together three experts covering the
diverse fields of sleep (Landsness – PI), plasticity of brain recovery (Lee – Mentor) and optical neuroimaging
(Culver – Mentor) to tackle this innovative concept and potentially open-up a new field of research. The research
environment in which this career development award is proposed is outstanding. Dr. Jin Moo Lee, a translational
neuroscientist and vascular neurologist with an interest in the plasticity of stroke recovery, has a long track record
of both scientific and mentorship success. Dr. Joe Culver, is a long-time collaborator of the Lee lab and highly
experienced in the imaging techniques the candidate will use. Finally, the Washington University neuroscience
community emphasizes high quality research, career development of young faculty and collaboration, all keys
to his success.
 An objective of this proposal is to understand the role of slow wave sleep (SWS) in repair and recovery after
focal ischemic brain injury. Local SWS is critical for learning-related brain plasticity. Mechanisms involved in
brain plasticity have been postulated to be necessary for successful neural repair and recovery after brain injury.
Neuronal activity in somatostatinergic interneurons (SOMi) has recently been shown to critically mediate SWS.
We propose to 1) determine the role of global SWS in a mouse model of brain repair following focal ischemia
(photothrombosis) in somatosensory cortex and 2) locally manipulate SWS (via SOMi using chemogenetics) to
determine if modulating local SWS affects cortical remapping, synaptogenesis, and sensorimotor recovery.
 If the hypothesis is correct, it will show that locally manipulating SWS can selectivity drive plasticity and
ultimately recovery from stroke. It will also determine if SOMi might be amenable to targeting and may help
shape a novel therapeutic approach to enhancing plasticity and recovery following stroke. This career
development award is the ideal platform for the candidate to acquire important training in basic research
techniques, deepen his understanding of the role SWS in repair and recovery of stroke, and will launch him
towards an independent re...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10054778
- **Project number:** 1K08NS109292-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric C Landsness
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $188,560
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10054778

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10054778, Local slow wave sleep in repair and recovery after stroke (1K08NS109292-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10054778. Licensed CC0.

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