Research Interests

My primary area of research was at the axis of neurodegeneration, inflammation, and stem cell biology. My work focused on identification of repair mechanisms of cell replacement strategies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI).

My experience in the field of SCI was over a decade long. During this period, I worked closely with Dr. Aileen Anderson and was involved in planning and execution of many studies investigating the role of the microenvironment on stem cell fate and migration properties. I worked with multiple animal models of SCI as well as in vitro studies involving human neural stem cells.

For my dissertation and beyond, I identified key components of the peripheral immune system in modulating human neural stem cell properties. When I first began these studies, there were only a handful of papers addressing the role of the inflammatory cascade on stem cells. My studies triggered much of our current understanding in this area. We have identified the both cellular and humoral innate immune response candidates in directing stem cell fate and migration both in vitro and in vivo.

As well, some of my data using stem cells in a cervical model of SCI was used as the basic science evidence for the initiation of a Phase I/II FDA-approved clinical trial investigating the role of human neural stem cell transplantation after cervical SCI in humans.

Selected Publications

Anderson AJ, Piltti KM, Hooshmand MJ, Nishi RA, Cummings BJ., "Preclinical Efficacy Failure of Human CNS-Derived Stem Cells for Use in the Pathway Study of Cervical Spinal Cord Injury", Stem Cell Reports (2017). [link]

Hooshmand MJ, Nguyen HX, Piltti KM, Benavente F, Hong S, Flanagan L, Uchida N, Cummings BJ, Anderson AJ., "Neutrophils Induce Astroglial Differentiation and Migration of Human Neural Stem Cells via C1q and C3a Synthesis", J Immunol (2017). [link]

M.J.​ ​Hooshmand​,​ ​H.X.​ ​Nguyen,​ ​H.​ ​Saiwai,​ ​J.​ ​Maddox,​ ​A.​ ​Salehi,​ ​A.​ ​Lakatos,​ ​R.​ ​Nishi, D.​ ​Salazar,​ ​N.​ ​Uchida,​ ​and​ ​A.​ ​J.​ ​Anderson.​, "Systemic​ ​neutrophil​ ​depletion​ ​modulates​ ​the migration​ ​and​ ​fate​ ​of​ ​transplanted​ ​human​ ​neural​ ​stem​ ​cells​ ​to​ ​rescue​ ​functional​ ​repair", J Neurosci (2017). [link]

M.J.​ ​Hooshmand​,​ ​B.J.​ ​Cummings,​ ​and​ ​A.J.​ ​Anderson.​ ​, "Improved​ ​pre-embedded immuno-electron​ ​microscopy​ ​procedures​ ​to​ ​preserve​ ​myelin​ ​integrity​ ​in​ ​mammalian central​ ​nervous​ ​tissue.​ ​", In: Microscopy:​ ​advances​ ​in​ ​scientific​ ​research​ ​and​ ​education (2014).

Hooshmand MJ, Galvan MD, Partida E, Anderson AJ., "Characterization of recovery, repair, and inflammatory processes following contusion spinal cord injury in old female rats: is age a limitation?", Immuno Aging (2014). [link]

Anderson AJ, Haus DL, Hooshmand MJ, Perez H, Sontag CJ, Cummings BJ., "Achieving stable human stem cell engraftment and survival in the CNS: is the future of regenerative medicine immunodeficient?", Regen Med (2011). [link]

Hooshmand MJ, Sontag CJ, Uchida N, Tamaki S, Anderson AJ, Cummings BJ., "Analysis of host-mediated repair mechanisms after human CNS-stem cell transplantation for spinal cord injury: correlation of engraftment with recovery", PLoS One (2009). [link]

B.J.​ ​Cummings,​ ​​M.J.​ ​Hooshmand​,​ ​D.L.​ ​Salazar,​ ​and​ ​A.J.​ ​Anderson.​, "Human​ ​neural stem​ ​cell​ ​mediated​ ​repair​ ​of​ ​the​ ​contused​ ​spinal​ ​cord:​ ​Timing​ ​the​ ​microenvironment", In: From​ ​Development​ ​to​ ​Degeneration​ ​and​ ​Regeneration​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Nervous​ ​System.​ ​​ (2008).

Galvan MD, Luchetti S, Burgos AM, Nguyen HX, Hooshmand MJ, Hamers FP, Anderson AJ., "Deficiency in complement C1q improves histological and functional locomotor outcome after spinal cord injury", J Neurosci (2008). [link]

Cummings BJ, Uchida N, Tamaki SJ, Salazar DL, Hooshmand M, Summers R, Gage FH, Anderson AJ., "Human neural stem cells differentiate and promote locomotor recovery in spinal cord-injured mice", PNAS (2005). [link]