Beat Alessandri

The main research interests of my group are the pathophysiology and treatment of neurotraumatic, ischemic and haemorrhagic brain injury and of brain tumours, including: focal and diffuse brain injury, cerebral ischemia by vessel occlusion and intracranial haemorrhage, neuromonitoring, blood-brain barrier, inflammation, pharmacological neuroprotection and cognitive and functional behaviour assessment.

We use cell culture techniques and a variety of animal models in our research and perform clinical studies in collaboration with other clinical disciplines. We combine our investigations with behavioural tests for animals and patients, neuropharmacological treatments and molecular biology analyses for markers, enzyme assays and histological/immunohistochemical staining by advanced imaging techniques. We apply laboratory methods such as qPCR, FACS, spectroscopy, HPLC, CBF-, oxygen- and intracranial pressure monitoring and CT/MRT imaging, in addition to light-, fluorescence- and Laser-Scanning-microscopy.

Research website

Positions held

• Current: Team Leader and Lab Manager of the Neurotrauma research group in the Neurosurgical Clinic, University Medical Center (UMC), Mainz
• Since 2000: Researcher, Institute of Neurosurgical Pathophysiology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center (UMC), Mainz
• 1996 - 2000: Postdoctoral researcher, Commonwealth University of Virginia, Medical College of Virginia, Dept. Neurosurgery, Richmond
• 1993 - 1996: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Basel, Dept. Neurosurgery, Basel
• 1993: Staff member/assistant (50%), Dow Europe SA. Dept. of Health & Environmental Sciences, Horgen
• 1990 - 1992: Staff position/assistant, Ciba-Geigy Ltd, (Novartis) Dept. of Agrotoxicology, Basel 

Education

• 1990: PhD in Behavioral Sciences, Institute for Behavioral Biology, Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich
• 1986: Diploma in Biology, Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich

Selected publications by Beat Alessandri

Krenzlin H, Greßer E, Jussen D, Riede N, Taylor L, Vogelaar C, Ringel F, Kempski O and Alessandri B (2020) The cerebral thrombin system is activated after intracerebral hemorrhage and contributes to secondary lesion growth and poor neurological outcome in mice. J Neurotrauma, 37:1481–1490 Link

Krenzlin H, Jussen D, Plath M, Tretzel SJ, Krämer T, Kempski O and Alessandri B (2019) Occurrence of spontaneous cortical spreading depression is increased by blood constituents and impairs neurological recovery after subdural hematoma in rats. J Neurotrauma, 36:395–402 Link

Mader MM, Leidorf A, Hecker A, Heimann A, Mayr PSM, Kempski O, Alessandri B and Wöbker G (2018) Evaluation of a new multiparameter brain probe for simultaneous measurement of brain tissue oxygenation, cerebral blood flow, intracranial pressure, and brain temperature in a porcine model. Neurocrit Care, 29:291–301 Link

Baechli H, Behzad M, Schreckenberger M, Buchholz HG, Heimann A, Kempski O and Alessandri B (2010) Blood constituents trigger brain swelling, tissue death, and reduction of glucose metabolism early after acute subdural hematoma in rats. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab, 30:576–85 Link

Büttner F, Cordes C, Gerlach F, Heimann A, Alessandri B, Luxemburger U, Türeci O, Hankeln T, Kempski O and Burmester T (2009) Genomic response of the rat brain to global ischemia and reperfusion. Brain Res, 1252:1–14 Link