There are two major projects ongoing in the laboratory. The first is focused on the mechanism(s) of transport of nutrients such as glucose, ketone bodies, amino acids and iron across the blood -brain barrier. In these studies we use a combination of in vivo and in vitro approaches to investigate the activities of these proteins that facilitate the passage of the nutrients into the brain. The second field of interest is focused on the inter-relationship between diabetes and stroke. Using mouse models of diabetes, we are investigating the underlying causes of the impaired recovery from stroke observed in the diabetic mice compared to their non-diabetic littermates. Specifically we have observed that the cytokine-mediated activation of the brain's inflammatory/wound healing mechanism(s), are delayed and diminished in the diabetic brain following a stroke and are thus investigating the underlying causes for retarded responses.