Academic Profile

Biography

Dr. Franklin West is a world leading expert in stem cell biology with a focus in stem cell reprogramming and stem cell therapies for neural injury and diseases including stroke and traumatic brain injury. He was named one of the nation's top scholars under 40 by Georgia Trends and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazines and has been featured on NPR, CNN and FOX News. Dr. West received a bachelor of science in biology from Morehouse College and a doctorate in stem cell biology from the University of Georgia, where he now holds position as Professor. Dr. West was a MARC (Minority Access to Research Careers) U-Star Research Fellow and a David and Lucille Packard Research Fellow at Morehouse College. Dr. West sits on the University of Georgia Research Foundation and steering committee of UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center.  He also serves as a regular reviewer for granting agencies including the National Institutes of Health. He has published numerous book chapters and scientific articles in international scientific peer-reviewed journals including Cell, Stem Cells and Scientific Reports.  Dr. West has produced the first live chimeric pigs from induced pluripotent stem cells, has developed novel stem cell to germ cell culture systems and a first-of-its-kind U.S. swine stroke model that has major implications on the treatment of human stroke patients.

B.S., Morehouse College
Ph.D., University of Georgia

Research Interests

Stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are leading causes of long-term disability and death in the United States. Stroke is the number one cause of long-term disability and the fourth leading cause of death and has a significant impact on the elderly. TBI has been labeled a silent epidemic and has become the signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, young children injured in falls and car accidents are one of the most affected groups, which can lead to lifelong cognitive, behavior and motor function deficits. Dr. West is broadly interested in regenerative therapies to treat stroke and TBI. His research has recently focused on the development of induced pluripotent stem cell derived neural stem cells (iNSCs) and extracellular vesicles as novel multimodal neuroprotective and regenerative therapeutics.

The Translational Neural Repair and Regeneration Laboratory

Recent Grant Sucesses

Selected Recent Publications

1. “Imaging Ischemic & Hemorrhagic Disease of the Brain in Dogs.” Susan A. Arnold, Simon R. Platt, Karine Gendron, and Franklin D. West. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. [Epub ahead of print 2020 May 7].

2. “Large animal ischemic stroke models: replicating human stroke pathophysiology.” Erin E. Kaiser and Franklin D. West. Neural Regeneration Research. [Epub ahead of print]. 2020 Aug;15(8):1377-1387.

3. “Characterization of tissue and functional deficits in a clinically translational pig model of acute ischemic stroke.” Erin E. Kaiser*, Elizabeth S. Waters*, Madison M. Fagan, Kelly M. Scheulin, Simon R. Platt, Julie Jeon, Xi Fang, Holly A. Kinder, Soo Kyung Shin, Kylee Jo Duberstein, Hea Jin Park, Franklin D. West. Brain Research. [Epub ahead of print]. 2020 Jun 1;1736:146778.

4. “Neural stem cell extracellular vesicles disrupt midline shift predictive outcomes in porcine ischemic stroke model.” Samantha E. Spellicy, Erin E. Kaiser, Michael M. Bowler, Brian J. Jurgielewicz, Robin L. Webb, Franklin D. West, Steven L. Stice. Translational Stroke Research. [Epub ahead of print 2019 Dec 6].

5. “Stem Cells as an Emerging Paradigm in Stroke 4: Advancing and Accelerating Preclinical Research.” Boltze J, Modo MM, Mays RW, Taguchi A, Jolkkonen J, Savitz SI, Bates D, Bath P, Carmichael ST, Cox CS Jr, Daadi MM, Diez Tejedor E, Grande AW, Gutiérrez-Fernández M, Hematti P, Hess D, Huang DY, Kokaia Z, Kuroda S, Moniche FP, Muir K, Olson S, Rosado de Castro PH, Sinden J, Satani N, Shichinohe H, Steinberg GK, Walczak P, Wechsler L, West F, Vahidy F, Vawter DE, Yavagal DR, Yang B, Zrinzo L. Stroke. 2019 Nov;50(11):3299-3306.

6. “Tropism of Newcastle disease virus strains for chicken neurons and glia.” Salman L. Butt, Veridiana MBD de Moura, Leonardo Susta, Patti J. Miller, Jessica M. Hutcheson, Stivalis Cardenas-Garcia, Corrie C. Brown, Franklin D. West, Claudio L. Afonso, James B. Stanton. BMC Veterinary Research. 2019 Sep 4;15(1):317.

7. “Stirred Suspension Bioreactor Culture of Porcine Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.” Kyle Burrell, Rkia Dardari, Taylor Goldsmith, Derek Toms, Daniel A.F. Villagomez, W. Allan King, Mark Ungrin, Franklin D. West, Ina Dobrinski. Stem Cells and Development. [Epub ahead of print 2019 July]. 2019 Sep 15;28(18):1264-1275.

8. “Pig Brains Have Homologous Resting State Networks with Human Brains.” Gregory Simchick*, Alice Shen*, Brandon Campbell, Hea Jin Park, Franklin D. West§, and Qun Zhao§. Brain Connectivity. [Epub ahead of print 2019 May]. 2019 Sep;9(7):566-579.

9. “Controlled cortical impact leads to cognitive and motor function deficits that correspond to cellular pathology in a piglet traumatic brain injury model.” Holly A. Kinder, Emily W. Baker, Elizabeth W. Howerth, Kylee Jo J. Duberstein and Franklin D. West. Journal of Neurotrauma. [Epub ahead of print 2019 May].2019 Oct 1;36(19):2810-2826.

10. “Traumatic Brain Injury Results in Dynamic Brain Structure Changes Leading to Acute and Chronic Motor Function Deficits in a Pediatric Piglet Model.” Holly A. Kinder*, Emily W. Baker*, Silun Wang, Candace C. Fleischer, Elizabeth W. Howerth, Kylee Jo J. Duberstein, Hui Mao, Simon R. Platt, and Franklin D. West. Journal of Neurotrauma. [Epub ahead of print 2019 May]. 2019 Oct 15;36(20):2930-2942.

11. “mRNA reprogramming of T8993G Leigh's syndrome fibroblast cells to create induced pluripotent stem cell models for mitochondrial disorders.” Harrison E. Grace, Patrick Galdun III, Edward J. Lesnefsky, Franklin D. West, Shilpa Iyer. Stem Cells and Development. [Epub ahead of print 2019 April]. 2019 Jul 1;28(13):846-859.

12. “Neural Stem Cell Therapy for Stroke: A Multi-Mechanistic Approach to Restoring Neurological Function.” Emily W. Baker, Holly A. Kinder, Franklin D. West.  Brain and Behavior. [Epub ahead of print 2019 Feb]. 2019 Mar;9(3):e01214.

13. “Isolation and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Broiler Chicken Compact Bones.” Roshan Adhikari, Chongxiao Chen, Elizabeth Waters, Franklin West and Woo Kyun Kim. Frontiers in Physiology. 2019 Jan 22;9:1892.

14. “The Pig as a Preclinical TBI Model: Current Models, Functional Outcome Measures, and Translational Detection Strategies.” Holly A. Kinder, Emily W. Baker, Franklin D. West. Neural Regeneration Research. [Epub ahead of print 2018 Dec]. 2019 Mar;14(3):413-424.

15. “Scaled traumatic brain injury results in unique metabolomic signatures between gray matter, white matter, and serum in a piglet model.” Emily W. Baker, W. Matthew Henderson, Holly A. Kinder, Jessica M. Hutcheson, and Franklin D. West. PLOS ONE. 2018 Oct 31;13(10):e0206481.

16. “Controlled Cortical Impact Severity Results in Graded Cellular, Tissue and Functional Responses in a Piglet Traumatic Brain Injury Model.” Emily W. Baker*, Holly A. Kinder*, Jessica M. Hutcheson, Kylee Jo J. Duberstein, Simon R. Platt, Elizabeth W. Howerth, Franklin D. West. Journal of Neurotrauma. [Epub ahead of print 2018 Jun]. 2019 Jan 1;36(1):61-73.

17. “LiF@SiO2 nanoparticles for controlled lithium release and osteoarthritis therapy.” Trever Todd, Zhenhui Lu, Benjamin Cline, Jinmin Zhao, Weizhong Zhang, Hongmin Chen, Anil Kumar, Wen Jiang, Franklin West, Samuel Franklin, Li Zheng, and Jin Xie. Nano Research. [Epub ahead of print 2018 Apr]. 2018. Oct;11(10): 5751-5760.

18. “Human neural stem cell extracellular vesicles improve recovery in a porcine model of ischemic stroke.” Robin L. Webb*, Erin E. Kaiser*, Brian J. Jurgielewicz, Samantha E. Spellicy, Shelley L. Scoville, Tyler A. Thompson, Raymond L. Swetenburg, David C. Hess, Franklin D. West and Steve L. Stice. Stroke. 2018 May;49(5):1248-1256.

19. “Human iNPC therapy leads to improvement in functional neurologic outcomes in a pig ischemic stroke model.” Vivian W. Lau, Simon R. Platt, Harrison E. Grace, Emily W. Baker, and Franklin D. West. Brain and Behavior. [Epub ahead of print 2018 Apr]. 2018 Apr 18;8(5).

20. “Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Stem Cell Therapy Enhances Recovery in an Ischemic Stroke Pig Model.” Emily W. Baker, Simon R. Platt, Vivian W. Lau, Harrison E. Grace, Shannon P. Holmes, Liya Wang, Kylee Jo Duberstein, Elizabeth W. Howerth, Holly A. Kinder, Steve L. Stice, David C. Hess, Hui Mao, and Franklin D. West. Scientific Reports. [Epub ahead of print 2017 Mar 7]. 2017 Aug 30;7(1):10075.

21. “Pig Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Neural Rosettes Parallel Human Differentiation into Sensory Neural Subtypes.” Robin L. Webb, Amalia Gallegos-Cardenas, Colette N. Miller, Nicholas J. Solomotis, Hong-Xiang Liu, Franklin D. West and Steve L. Stice. Cellular Reprogramming. [Epub ahead of print 2017 Mar 7]. 2017 Apr;19(2):88-94.

22. “Derivation of Chicken Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Partially Resistant to Newcastle Disease Virus-Induced Lysis Through Multiple Rounds of Infection.” Leonardo Susta, Ying He, Jessica H. McCabe, Yangqing Lu, Franklin D. West, Steven L. Stice, Ping Yu, Claudio L. Afonso. Virology Journal. 2016 Dec 5;13(1):205.

23. “Development, characterization and optimization of a new suspension chicken-induced pluripotent cell line for the production of Newcastle disease vaccine.” Ismaila Shittu, Ziying Zhu, Yangqing Lu, Jessica M. Hutcheson, Steven L Stice, Franklin D West, Meritxell Donadeu, Baptiste Dungu, Aly M Fadly, Guillermo Zavala, Nola Fergusoon-Noel and Claudio L Afonso. Biologicals. [Epub ahead of print 2015 Nov 13]. 2016 Jan;44(1):24-32.

24. “Episomal Vector Restores LDLR Function in Monogenic Deficient iPSC-Derived Hepatocytes.” Venkat M. Ramakrishnan*, Jeong-Yeh Yang*, Braden R. Bocard, Kevin T. Tien, John G. Maijub, Patrick O. Burchell, Stuart K. Williams, Marvin E. Morris, James B. Hoying, Richard Wade-Martins, Franklin D. West, and Nolan L. Boyd. Scientific Reports. 2015 Aug 26;5:13231. *= Co-first Authors

25. “Delayed Newcastle Disease Virus Replication using RNA Interference to Target the Nucleoprotein.” Jessica Hutcheson, Leonardo Susta, Steven L Stice, Claudio L Afonso and Franklin D West. Biologicals. [Epub ahead of print 2015 June 4]. 2015 Jul;43(4):274-80.

26. “Pig Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived Neural Rosette Developmentally Mimic Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Neural Differentiation.” Amalia Gallegos-Cárdenas, Robin L Webb, Erin T Jordan, Rachel C West, Jeong-Yeh Yang, Kai Wang, Franklin D West and Steven L Stice. Stem Cells and Development. [Epub ahead of print 2015 March 31]. 2015 Aug 15;24(16):1901-11.

27. “Chimeric Non-Viral Minicircle Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Compatible with Production of Chimeric Chickens.” Ping Yu, Yangqing Lu, Brian J. Jordan4, Yubing Liu, Jeong-Yeh Yang, Jessica M. Hutcheson, Christina L. Ethridge, Jennifer L. Mumaw, Holly A. Kinder, Robert B. Beckstead, Steven L. Stice and Franklin D. West. Cellular Reprogramming. [Epub ahead of print 2014 August 1]. 2014 Oct;16(5):366-78.

28. “Induced Pluripotency in Chicken Embryonic Fibroblast Results in a Germ Cell Fate.” Yangqing Lu, Franklin D. West, Brian J. Jordan, Erin T. Jordan, Rachel West, Ping Yu, Ying He, Miguel A. Barrios, Ziying Zhu, James N. Petitte, Robert B. Beckstead, Steven L. Stice. Stem Cells and Development (Journal Cover Image). [Epub ahead of print 2014 April 10]. 2014 Aug 1;23(15):1755-64.

29. “Development and Characterization of a Yucatan Miniature Biomedical Pig Permanent Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Stroke Model. ” Simon R Platt, Shannon P Holmes, Elizabeth W Howerth, Kylee Jo J Duberstein, C Robert Dove, Holly A Kinder, Emily L Wyatt, Amie V Linville, Vivian W Lau, Steven L Stice, William D Hill, David C Hess, Franklin D West. Experimental & Translational Stroke Medicine. 2014 Mar 23;6(1):5.

30. “Comparative Gene Expression Signature of Pig, Human and Mouse Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Reveals Insight into Pig Pluripotency Gene Networks.” Yajun Liu, Yangyang Ma, Jeong-Yeh Yang, De Cheng, Xiaopeng Liu, Xiaoling Ma, Franklin D. West, Huayan Wang. Stem Cell Research. [Epub ahead of print 2013 December 13]. 2014 Apr;10(2):162-76.

31. “Gait Analysis in a Pre- and Post-Ischemic Stroke Biomedical Pig Model.” Kylee Jo Duberstein, Simon R. Platt, Shannon P. Holmes, C. Robert Dove, Elizabeth W. Howerth, Marc Kent, Steven L. Stice, William D. Hill, David C. Hess and Franklin D. West. Physiology & Behavior. [Epub ahead of print 2013 November 25]. 2014 Feb 10;125:8-16.

32. “α-1,3-Galactosyltransferase Knockout Pig Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: A Cell Source for the Production of Xenotransplant Pig.” Yubing Liu, Jeong Yeh Yang, Yangqing Lu, Ping Yu, C. Robert Dove, Jessica M. Hutcheson, Jennifer L. Mumaw, Steven L. Stice and Franklin D. West. Cellular Reprogramming. [Epub ahead of print 2013 February 12]. 2013 Apr; 15 (2):107-16.

33. “SSEA4 Positive Pig Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Are Primed for Differentiation into Neural Cells.” Jeong-Yeh Yang, Jennifer L. Mumaw, Yubing Liu, Steve L. Stice and Franklin D. West. Cell Transplantation. [Epub ahead of print 2012 October 03]. 2013; 22 (6):945-59.

34. “Comparative epigenomic annotation of regulatory DNA.” Shu Xiao, Dan Xie, Xiaoyi Cao, Pengfei Yu, Xiaoyun Xing, Chieh-Chun Chen, Mingchao Xie, Franklin D. West, Harris Lewin, Ting Wang, Sheng Zhong. Cell. 2012 Jun 8; 149 (6):1381-92.

35. “Metabolomic Response of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Germ-like Cells after Exposure to Steroid Hormones.” Franklin D. West, W. Matthew Henderson, Ping Yu, Jeong-Yeh Yang, Steven L. Stice, and Mary Alice Smith. Toxicological Sciences (Journal Cover Image August 2014 edition). [Epub ahead of print 2012 May 30]. 2012 Sep; 129 (1):9-20.

36. “Avian Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Generate Live Quail-Chicken Chimeras and Undergo Advanced In Vitro Differentiation.” Yangqing Lu, Franklin D. West, Brian J. Jordan, Jennifer L. Mumaw, Erin T. Jordan, Amalia Gallegos-Cardenas, Robert B. Beckstead, Steven L. Stice. Stem Cells and Development (Journal Cover Image). [Epub ahead of print 2011 Oct 4]. 2012 Feb 10; 21(3):394-403.

37. “Progress towards Generating Informative Porcine Biomedical Models Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.” Franklin West and Steve Stice. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2011 Dec; 1245 (1):21-3.

38. “Chimeric Pigs Produced from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Demonstrate Germline Transmission and No Evidence of Tumor Formation.” Franklin D. West, Elizabeth W. Uhl, Yubing Liu, Heather Stowe, Yangqing Lu, Ping Yu, Amalia Gallegos Cardenas, Scott L. Pratt and Steven L. Stice. Stem Cells. [Epub ahead of print 2011 Sep 27]. 2011 Oct 29 (10): 1640-1643.

39. “Human Haploid Cells Differentiated from Meiotic Competent Clonal Germ Cell Lines that Originated from Embryonic Stem Cells.” F. D. West, J. L. Mumaw, A. Gallegos-Cardenas, A. Young and S. L. Stice. Stem Cells and Development. [Epub ahead of print 2010 Oct 7]. 2011 Jun; 20 (6):1079-88.

40. “Porcine Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Produce Chimeric Offspring.” F. D. West, S. L. Terlouw, D. Kwon, J. L. Mumaw, S. K. Dhara, K. Hasneen, J. R. Dobrinsky and S. L. Stice. Stem Cells and Development (Journal Cover Image). [Epub ahead of print 2010 Apr 9]. 2010 Aug 19 (8): 1211-20.

41. “KIT ligand and bone morphogenetic protein signaling enhances human embryonic stem cell to germ-like cell differentiation.” F. D. West, M. I. Roche-Rios, S. Abraham, R. R. Rao, M. S. Natrajan, Bacanamwo, M and S. L. Stice. Human Reproduction. [Epub ahead of print 2009 Oct 19]. 2010 Jan 25 (1): 168-78.

42. “Enrichment and Differentiation of Human Germ-like Cells Mediated by Feeder Cells and Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Signaling.” Franklin D. West, David W. Machacek, Nolan L. Boyd, Kurinji Pandiyan, Kelly R. Robbins, and Steven L. Stice. Stem Cells. 2008 Nov 26 (11): 2768-76 [Epub ahead of print 2008 Aug 21].