Dr. Murdock is the Robert A. Epstein and Joan M. Chernoff-Epstein Emerging Scholar. He is interested in the immune system’s responses in ALS. His work cuts across a broad spectrum of analyses from translational work using clinical samples to mouse models of disease to in vitro analyses of immune function in ALS. His work focuses particularly on three types of immune cells – neutrophils, natural killer (NK) cells, and CD4 T cells - and their roles in controlling ALS progression. Neutrophils are the most common immune cell in the blood and have been implicated in a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS. These cells are some of the first responders to neuronal damage but can often make disease worse, rather than aiding the repair response. In ALS, Dr. Murdock has shown that increased neutrophil levels are associated with more rapid disease progression, and neutrophil levels are the single best indicator of future disease progression based on predictive models. Similarly, NK cells protect the body from infection and cancer, but also kill dying cells. Research has also found that the molecule that protects the body from its own NK cells is missing on the surface of motor neurons during ALS suggesting that NK cells may target motor neurons during disease. Dr. Murdock’s studies have also linked NK cells to ALS progression, and ongoing studies are using immune-modifying drugs to target NK cells in ALS to try and extend patient survival. Conversely, CD4 T cells, the master control cells of the immune system, disappear from the blood during ALS, and studies in mice and humans demonstrate that loss of CD4 T cells is associated with disease acceleration. Dr. Murdock’s team is currently trying to identify which group of CD4 T cells or which immune mechanism slows ALS progression. These observations have led to preclinical ALS studies utilizing a currently FDA-approved drug, and if successful, this drug will be tested in clinical trials in ALS patients. Dr. Murdock has obtained a patent on the use of this drug in ALS patients if these trials are successful.

- Immunology in ALS
- Immunology in diabetic neuropathy
- Immunology in brain health