Barry Hoffer, MD

Adjunct Professor and Director of Research
Department of Neurological Surgery
School of Medicine
Adjunct Professor
Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics
School of Medicine

Research Information

Research Interests

The Hoffer laboratory focuses on studies of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Our work involves both rats and mice, with an emphasis on repositioning drugs that are currently in use for other diseases such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Techniques that are used for our PD studies include lesion models such as MPTP and 6OHDA, as well as transgenic mice. Techniques that are used for TBI include weight drop, controlled cortical impact, and fluid percussion injury. We measure behavior, as well as immunocytochemistry and biochemical correlates of behavior changes. We collaborate with a number of laboratories both domestic and foreign. Our foreign collaborations have major research programs in Sweden, Finland, and Taiwan.  A number of our projects have strong translational aspects with our “proof of principal” data supporting current and future clinical trials both in PD and TBI.

Publications

Selected Publications

Tweedie D, Rachmany L, Rubovich V, Li Y, Holloway HW, Lehrmann E, Zhang Y, Becker KG, Perez E, Hoffer BJ, Pick CG, Greig NH. Blast traumatic brain injury-induced cognitive deficits are attenuated by preinjury or postinjury treatment with the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, exendin-4. Alzheimers Dement. 2016 Jan;12(1):34-48. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.07.489. Epub 2015 Aug 29.

Ross JM, Stewart JB, Hagström E, Brene S, Brene S, Mourier A, Coppotelli G, Freyer C, Lagouge M, Hoffer BJ, Olson L, Larsson N-G. Germline mtDNA mutations aggravate ageing and can impair brain development. Nature (2013). 2013 Sep 19:501(7467): 412-5. PMID:23965628.

Sterky FH  , Pernold K, Harvey BK, Lindqvist E, Hoffer BJ, Olson L. Glial-derived neurotrophic factor partially ameliorates motor symptoms without slowing neurodegeneration in mice with respiratory chain-deficient dopamine neurons. Cell Transplantation (2013) 22(9):1529-1539.  Epub ahead of print (10/8/2012).

Baratz R, Tweedie D, Rubovitch V, Luo W, Seon J, Hoffter BJ, Greig NH, Pick CG. Tumor necrosis factor-α synthesis inhibitor, 3,6'-dithiothalidomide, reverses behavioral impairments induced by minimal traumatic brain injury in mice. Journal of Neurochemistry (2011) Sept;118(6):1032-42.

Rubovitch V,  Ten-Bosch M, Zohar O, Harrison CR, Tempel-Brami C, Stein E, Hoffer B, Balaban C, Schreiber S, Chiu W-T, Pick CG. A Mouse Model of Blast-Induced mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Experimental Neurology. (2011) Dec;232(2): 280-9.

Good, Cameron H., Hoffman, Alexander F., Hoffer, Barry J., Chefer, Vladimir I., Shippenberg, Toni S., Bäckman, Cristina M., Larsson, Nils-Göran , Olson, Lars, Gellhaar, Sandra, Galter, Dagmar, Lupica, Carl R. Impaired nigrostriatal function precedes behavioral deficits in a genetic mitochondrial model of Parkinson’s disease. FASEB Journal. (2011) 25(4):1333-1344.

Ross JM, Oberg J, Brene S, Coppotelli G, Terzioglu M, Pernold K, Goiny M, Sitnikov R, Kehr J, Trifunovic A, Larsson NG, Hoffer BJ, Olson L. High brain lactate is a hallmark of aging and caused by a shift in the lactate dehydrogenase A/B ratio. PNAS. (2010) Nov 16; 107(46):20087-20092.

 Galter D, Pernold K, Yoshitake T, Lindquist E, Hoffer B, Kehr J, Larsson N.-G, Olson L. MitoPark mice mirror the slow progression of key symptoms and L-DOPA response in Parkinson’s disease. Genes, Brain and Behavior. (2010) Mar 1; 9(2):173-181.

Karlén A, Karlsson TE, Mattsson A, Lundströmer K, Codeluppi S, Pham TM, Bäckman CM, Ogren SO, Aberg E, Hoffman AF, Sherling MA, Lupica CR, Hoffer BJ, Spenger C, Josephson A, Brené S, Olson L. Nogo receptor 1 regulates formation of lasting memories. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Dec 1;106(48):20476-81.

Li Y, Perry T, Kindy MS, Harvey BK, Tweedie D, Holloway HW, Powers K, Shen H, Egan JM, Sambamurti K, Brossi A, Lahiri DK, Mattson MP, Hoffer BJ, Wang Y, Greig NH. GLP-1 receptor stimulation preserves primary cortical and dopaminergic neurons in cellular and rodent models of stroke and Parkinsonism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. (2009) Jan 27;106(4):1285-90

Ekstrand, M.I., Terzioglu, M., Galter, G.A., Zhu, S., Hofstetter, C., Lindqvist, E., Thams, S., Bergstrand, A., Hansson, F.S., Trifunovic, A., Hoffer, B., Mohammed, A.H., Olson, L., and Larsson, N.-G. Progressive parkinsonism in mice with respiratory-chain-deficient dopamine neurons.  PNAS 104(4): 1325-1330, 2007.

Tweedie, D., Milman, A., Holloway, H.W., Li, Y., Harvey, B.K., Shen, H., Pistell, P.J., Lahiri, D.K., Hoffer, B.J., Wang, Y., Pick, CG, and Greig, N.H. Apoptotic and behavioral sequelae of mild brain trauma in mice. J. Neurosci. Res. 85(4): 805-15, 2007.

Education

Doctor of Medicine
University of Rochester
1967
Doctor of Philosophy
University of Rochester
1965
Bachelor of Science
Union College
1959