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D. Leonardo Garcia Ramirez

D. Leonardo Garcia Ramirez, PhD

Instructor


Department: Neurobiology & Anatomy

D. Leonardo Garcia Ramirez, PhD, is an instructor in the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Research Interests

Spinal neuronal circuits, spinal cord injury, plasticity, sensory processing, descending modulation of spinal cord circuits

Research

García-Ramírez’s research focuses on investigating the neuronal circuits of the spinal cord that underlie sensory processing, descending modulation and motor control. He is particularly interested in how these circuits adapt in response to injuries, diseases and therapeutic interventions. To investigate these mechanisms, García-Ramírez performs both in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiological experiments. His goal is to advance our understanding of spinal cord physiology and plasticity, specifically regarding changes in neuronal excitability and connectivity, with the aim of developing more effective therapeutic strategies to restore function after central nervous system damage.

Presentations

“Activity of spinal RORβ neurons is related to functional improvements following combination treatment after complete SCI”
Stachowski NJ, Wheel JH, Singh S, Atoche SJ, Yao L, Garcia-Ramirez DL, Giszter SF, Dougherty KJ
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Apr 15;122(15):e2406333122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2406333122. Epub 2025 Apr 8. PMID: 40198697; PMCID: PMC12012501

“Covert actions of epidural stimulation on spinal locomotor circuits”
Garcia-Ramirez DL, McGrath JR, Ha NT, Wheel JH, Atoche SJ, Yao L, Stachowski NJ, Giszter SF, Dougherty KJ
bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Jun 21:2024.06.18.599598. doi: 10.1101/2024.06.18.599598. PMID: 38948733; PMCID: PMC11213016

“Postnatal maturation of serotonergic modulation of spinal RORβ interneurons in the medial deep dorsal horn”
West CW, Garcia-Ramirez DL, Dougherty KJ
bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Nov 17:2024.11.15.623295. doi: 10.1101/2024.11.15.623295. PMID: 39605347; PMCID: PMC11601448

“Identification of adult spinal Shox2 neuronal subpopulations based on unbiased computational clustering of electrophysiological properties”
Garcia-Ramirez DL, Singh S, McGrath JR, Ha NT, Dougherty KJ
Front Neural Circuits. 2022 Aug 4;16:957084. doi: 10.3389/fncir.2022.957084. PMID: 35991345; PMCID: PMC9385948

“Spinal Cord Injury Alters Spinal Shox2 Interneurons by Enhancing Excitatory Synaptic Input and Serotonergic Modulation While Maintaining Intrinsic Properties in Mouse”
Garcia-Ramirez DL, Ha NT, Bibu S, Stachowski NJ, Dougherty KJ
J Neurosci. 2021 Jul 7;41(27):5833-5848. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1576-20.2021. PMID: 34006587; PMCID: PMC8265802

Additional publications...

“Nicotinic receptor modulation of primary afferent excitability with selective regulation of Aδ-mediated spinal actions”
Shreckengost J, Halder M, Mena-Avila E, Garcia-Ramirez DL, Quevedo J, Hochman S
J Neurophysiol. 2021 Feb 1;125(2):568-585. doi: 10.1152/jn.00228.2020. Epub 2020 Dec 16. PMID: 33326305; PMCID: PMC7948147

“Candidate Interneurons Mediating the Resetting of the Locomotor Rhythm by Extensor Group I Afferents in the Cat”
Domínguez-Rodríguez LE, Stecina K, García-Ramírez DL, Mena-Avila E, Milla-Cruz JJ, Martínez-Silva L, Zhang M, Hultborn H, Quevedo JN
Neuroscience. 2020 Dec 1;450:96-112. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.09.017. Epub 2020 Sep 15. PMID: 32946952

“Flexor and Extensor Ankle Afferents Broadly Innervate Locomotor Spinal Shox2 Neurons and Induce Similar Effects in Neonatal Mice”
Li EZ, Garcia-Ramirez DL, Dougherty KJ
Front Cell Neurosci. 2019 Oct 9;13:452. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2019.00452. PMID: 31649510; PMCID: PMC6794418

“Serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline adjust actions of myelinated afferents via modulation of presynaptic inhibition in the mouse spinal cord”
García-Ramírez DL, Calvo JR, Hochman S, Quevedo JN
PLoS One. 2014 Feb 28;9(2):e89999. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089999. PMID: 24587177; PMCID: PMC3938568


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