Christopher West

Dr. Christopher West directs the Translational Integrative Physiology Laboratory, which has two main aims. The first is to understand the pathways that control cardiorespiratory and autonomic function after spinal cord injury and how to effectively manipulate them to improve the function of these systems. To achieve this first aim, Dr. West’s laboratory takes a translational approach to their research by conducting studies in a variety of animal models as well as individuals and athletes with spinal cord injury. The second main aim is to conduct fundamental research related to better understanding the cardiac inotropic response to reflexive activation of the cardiovascular centres in the brainstem. To achieve this second aim, Dr. West’s laboratory utilizes a range of experimental approaches in small and large animal models, including bilateral cardiac catheterization, high-resolution imaging and direct neural recordings. Major recent findings in the lab have demonstrated that the heart is a more appropriate target than the vasculature to optimize spinal cord perfusion in the acute setting post-injury.