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Department
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Neurology
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Hospital Title
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Senior Associate in Medicine and Director of Epilepsy Research
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Academic Title
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Professor of Neurology
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Phone
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617-919-2445
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Fax
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617-919-2769
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Email
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Frances Jensen
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Location
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300 Longwood Avenue
CLS 14073
Boston MA 02115
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The goal of Frances Jensen's research is to determine the age-specific mechanisms of hypoxic/ischemic perinatal brain injury, which can result in mental retardataion, and to devise age-appropriate therapies. Specifically, she is focusing on two common sequelae of such injuries--seizures and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), or white matter injury.
Seizures associated with hypoxia are often refractory to therapy and can be associated with long-term epilepsy. Jensen and her colleagues seek to determine the age-specific mechanisms of such seizures that might contribute to their relative resistance to conventional antiepileptic drugs that are effective at older ages. They are also investigating the effect of these seizures on subsequent brain development and on the development of epilepsy later in life.
The second major focus of the laboratory is on age-specific mechanisms of white matter injury in the developing brain. PVL is the most common pathology associated with the subsequent diagnosis of cerebral palsy in premature infants. Jensen's research is directed at evaluating age-specific mechanisms of oligodendrocyte injury in vitro and in vivo. These studies may lead to in vivo studies of preventive drug therapy.
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Frances Jensen is a graduate of Cornell University Medical College. She completed an internship at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a Residency in the Longwood Training Program, and a fellowship at Children's Hospital Boston. She received a 2007 Pioneer Award from the NIH to explore the interaction between epileptogenesis and cognitive dysfunction. Dr. Jensen was the 2007 Program Committee Chair at the Society for Neuroscience, past Chair of the AES Council on Education and AES Advocacy Committee.
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- Silverstein FA and Jensen FE. Neonatal Seizures, Ann Neurol 2007:62(2):112-20.
- Talos, DM, Cordero, K, Kwiatkowski, D, Black, PB, and Jensen, FE. Cell-specific alteration of glutamate receptor expression in TSC cortical tubers. Ann Neurol 2008; 63(4):454-65.
- Manning, SM, Talos, DM, Zhou, C, Selip, D, Park, H-K, Park, CJ, Volpe, JJ, Jensen, FE. NMDA receptor blockade with memantine attenuates white matter deficits in a rat model of periventricular leukomalacia. J. Neurosci. 2008; 28(26):6670-8.
- Rakhade, S, Zhou, C, Aujla, P, Fishman, R, Sucher, N, Jensen, FE. Early alterations of AMPA receptors mediate synaptic potentiation induced by neonatal seizures. J. Neurosci. 2008;28:7979-7990
- Rakhade, S, Jensen, FE. Epileptogenesis in the Immature Brain: Emerging Mechanisms. Nature Rev Neurol 2009; 5(7):380-91).
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