Webinars

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

Brain on Fire: How infections and immune dysfunction can cause neuropsychiatric symptoms

Common infections (i.e., strep, influenza and mycoplasma pneumoniae) can trigger an abnormal autoimmune response, in which antibodies produced to destroy harmful pathogens (i.e., bacteria, viruses) mistakenly attack portions of the brain. This autoimmune attack disrupts how cells and receptors function and causes brain inflammation, resulting in a range of neuropsychiatric symptoms.

This presentation will review the biological process behind these infection-triggered autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Shimasaki will discuss how infections can impact the immune system and the brain, leading to the onset of various neurologic and psychiatric symptoms, including OCD, tics, depression, anxiety and even seizure-like movements.

Dr. Shimasaki will describe several signs and symptoms that may help identify individuals with an autoimmune-induced neuropsychiatric condition. He will also review how testing with the Autoimmune Brain Panel™ can assist clinicians in determining whether symptoms may be due to an autoimmune response, rather than a primary neurologic or psychiatric disorder.

The presentation will highlight several patients who, after testing positive on the Panel, were treated successfully with a complete resolution of their symptoms.

PRESENTER

Craig Shimasaki is President and CEO of Moleculera Biosciences, a neuroimmunology precision medicine company focused on identifying underlying roots of neurologic, psychiatric, and behavioral disorders triggered by an autoimmune response. He is a medical research scientist with over 35 years of translational development experience in biochemical interactions, molecular biology, viral pathogenesis and infection-triggered neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr. Shimasaki has worked at all stages of research and development from bench to bedside. His research included epitope mapping of HIV proteins, genetic based risk predictors of breast cancer, influenza and RSV diagnostics and therapeutics and pathogenesis of infection triggered neuropsychiatric disorders. As a businessperson, he co-founded multiple companies and led multiple products through the FDA approval process and is a co-inventor on multiple patents.

Dr. Shimasaki started his career at Genentech. He received his BS in Biochemistry from University of California at Davis, his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Tulsa, and his MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Oklahoma where he teaches biotechnology entrepreneurship. His passion is to help translate scientific and medical discoveries into acutely needed products so that more patients can live healthier lives.