Jose Otero

Dr. Jose Otero's photo

Jose Otero

Associate Professor, Department of Pathology

Jose.Otero@osumc.edu

(614) 685-6799

4171 Graves Hall
333 W 10th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

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Areas of Expertise

  • Neurotrauma, Neurological Disorders, & Gene Therapy

Education

  • MD/PhD: Northwestern University

 

Current Research Description

The goal of the laboratory is to elucidate the mechanisms of developmental and neoplastic disorders of the central nervous system.  One focus of the laboratory is the investigation of potential mechanisms of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SDIS)/Sudden Unexpected Death in an Infant (SUDI) using traditional approaches as well as “next gen” sequencing technology and stem cell biology.  SIDS, affecting 1 in 2000 infants per year, has been challenging to study as the diagnosis is rendered to a spectrum of victims, some of which are accidental (“sporadic” SIDS) whereas others show biological etiology (“syndromic” SIDS).  Within the “syndromic” SIDS spectrum, a range of pathological causes include poor ability to induce a respiratory drive (hypoventilation) and those who suffer from sudden cardiac death (cardiogenic, or Long QT-like).  The ultimate goal of this work is to establish a diagnostic test to screen newborns at risk of suffering from “syndromic” SIDS.  We have used a particularly severe case of central congenital hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) as a model to study the development of CNS respiratory neurons in vitro using induced pluripotent stem cells.  CCHS is caused by mutations in the gene PHOX2B  and is characterized by a loss of PHOX2B expressing neurons in the brainstem.

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