Welcome to the Boyden Lab
We study the immunology of Multiple Sclerosis.
Multiple sclerosis is an immune-mediated neuroinflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Due to its enigmatic etiology, the multi-parameter nature of its autoimmune pathologies (vision, motor, cognition, pain, fatigue) and locations (brain, optic nerves, spinal cord), MS is a complex puzzle for researchers.
Success of B cell depletion therapies for MS highlight our focus on B cells’ support of neuroinflammation. We design experiments and develop models to understand the pathology and regulation of disease.
Programs we are involved in:
Our current projects:
- B cell:CD4 T cell interactions in demyelinating disease
- B cell tropic virus impact on demyelinating disease pathogenesis
- B cell:CD8 T cell interactions in disease regulation
Alexander W. Boyden, PhD
Recent news
Nimra Aman awarded Marilyn Ohm-Smith Pathology Student Scholarship
Connor Wilhelm receives a National Multiple Sclerosis Society Travel Grant Award to attend the 2025 Autumn Immunology Conference (AIC) in Chicago
Selected publications
Suppressive CD8+ T-cells are key cellular mediators of extracorporeal photopheresis. Rogers KJ, Eschbacher KL, Zacharias Z, Kale K, Crawford MP, Knudson CM, Boyden AW, Karandikar KJ. J Clinical Apheresis. 2026 Feb;41(1):e70094. doi: 10.1002/jca.70094.
Myelin-reactive CD8+ T cells influence conventional dendritic cell subsets towards a mature and regulatory phenotype in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Upadhye M, Wilhelm CR, Rogers KJ, Vemulawada C, Borcherding N, Boyden AW, Legge KL, Karandikar NJ. J Neuroinflamm. 2025 Feb 28; 22, 54. doi: 10.1186/s12974-025-03377-8
Proteolipid Protein-Induced Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis Requires B Cell-Mediated Antigen Presentation. Wilhelm CR, Upadhye MA, Eschbacher KL, Karandikar NJ, Boyden AW. J Immunol. 2023 Sep 15;211(6):944-953. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2200721.
Novel B cell-dependent multiple sclerosis model using extracellular domains of myelin proteolipid protein. Boyden AW, Brate AA, Karandikar NJ. Sci Rep. 2020 Mar 19;10(1):5011. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61928-w.
