Dan Hellenbrand

Dan works as an Assistant Researcher in Dr. Amgad Hanna’s Spinal Cord and Nerve Lab. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical engineering Technology from Miami University in 2008 and a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 2010. Dan’s primary research interests involve treatments to improve functional recovery after spinal cord injury. Dan, himself, sustained a C5-C6 spinal cord injury in 2003 and understand the hardships that result from the loss of motor and sensory function below the level of injury.

In the lab, they are working on developing novel drug delivery methods to treat different aspects of spinal cord injury. The drug delivery platform is a mineral coating on surgical sutures or microparticles that binds specific therapeutic molecules of interest and releases them in a sustained manner. They are currently investigating the capabilities of interleukin-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, to reduce inflammation after spinal cord injury and the use of neurotrophin-3, a growth factor, to promote axon growth after spinal cord injury.

For more information on our work and to view recent publications, visit Dr. Amgad Hanna’s page.