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
Connor Wilhelm and Nimra Aman pass comprehensive exams for Experimental Pathology PhD program
Miles Goetzman awarded an ICRU Summer Fellowship
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.
