Welcome to the Loeb Molecular and Translations Research Laboratory

Jeffrey A. Loeb, M.D., Ph.D.

John S. Garvin Chair,

Professor and Head,

Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Director,

University of Illinois NeuroRepository

Dr. Loeb is a practicing neurologist who is the John S. Garvin Professor and and Head in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 2013. He was formerly the Associate Director of The Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Wayne State University and Professor in the Department of Neurology.

Sturge-Weber Foundation Names University of Illinois Professor Jeffrey Loeb as Chief Clinical Strategist

August 1st, 2017|Comments Off on Sturge-Weber Foundation Names University of Illinois Professor Jeffrey Loeb as Chief Clinical Strategist

Sturge-Weber Foundation Names University of Illinois Professor Jeffrey Loeb as Chief Clinical Strategist Jeffrey A. Loeb, M.D., Ph.D. has been named the inaugural Chief Clinical Strategist for the Sturge-Weber Foundation. Read more.  

New Insight Into The Management of Brain Tumor-Related Epilepsy

July 19th, 2017|Comments Off on New Insight Into The Management of Brain Tumor-Related Epilepsy

In The News: New Insight Into The Management of Brain Tumor-Related Epilepsy A team of University of Illinois and Wayne State University researchers have found that people with brain tumor-related epilepsy benefit from a combined [...]

View a complete list of Dr. Loeb’s publications through the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed online database.

Essential Research Neuroscience Publications:

  1. Li Q, Loeb JA (2001) Neuregulin-HSPG interactions produce sustained ErbB receptor activation required for the induction of AChRs in muscle. J Biol. Chem. 276:38068-38075.
  2. Loeb JA, Hmadcha A, Fischbach GD, Land SJ, and Zakarian VL (2002) Neuregulin Expression at Neuromuscular Synapses is Modulated by Synaptic Activity and Neurotrophic Factors, J. Neurosci. 22:2206-2214.
  3. Loeb JA (2003) Neuregulin: An Activity-Dependent Synaptic Modulator at the Neuromuscular Junction. J Neurocytol. 32:649-664.
  4. Li Q, Esper RM, and Loeb JA (2004) Synergistic Effects of Neuregulin and Agrin on Muscle Acetylcholine Receptor Expression. Mol. Cell. Neurosci. 26:558-69.
  5. Esper RM and Loeb JA (2004) Rapid axoglial signaling mediated by neuregulin and neurotrophic factors. J. Neurosci. 24:6218-27.
  6. Yao B, Rakhade SN, Li Q, Ahmed A, Krauss R, Draghici S, and Loeb JA (2004) Accuracy of cDNA microarray methods to detect small gene expression changes induced by neuregulin on breast epithelial cells BMC Bioinformatics 2004, 5:99
  7. Li Q, Ahmed S, and Loeb JA (2004) Development of a proliferative autocrine neuregulin signaling loop during the malignant transformation of human breast epithelial cells. Cancer Research 64:7078-85
  8. Pankonin MS, Gallagher JT, Loeb JA. (2005) Specific structural features of heparan sulfate proteoglycans potentiate neuregulin-1 signaling.. J Biol Chem. 280(1):383-8.
  9. Taveggia C, Zanazzi G, Petrylak A, Yano H, Rosenbluth J, Einheber S, Xu X, Esper RM, Loeb JA, Shrager P, Chao MV, Falls DL, Role L, Salzer JL. (2005) Neuregulin-1 type III determines the ensheathment fate of axons. . Neuron. 47(5):681-94.
  10. Rakhade SN, Yao B, Ahmed S, Asano E, Beaumont TL, Shah AK, Draghici S, Krauss R, Chugani HT, Sood S, Loeb JA.. (2005) A common pattern of persistent gene activation in human neocortical epileptic foci. Ann Neurol. 58(5):736-47.
  11. Hapner SJ, Nielsen KM, Chaverra M, Esper RM, Loeb JA, Lefcort F (2006) NT-3 and CNTF exert pleiotropic effects in the immature dorsal root ganglion including neuregulin-mediated proliferation of progenitor cells and neuronal differentiation. Dev. Biol. 297(1):182-97.
  12. Esper RM, Pankonin, MS, Loeb JA (2006) Neuregulins: Versatile growth and differentiation factors in nervous system development and human disease, Brain Res. Rev. , 51:161-75.
  13. Loeb JA (2007) Neuroprotection and repair by neurotrophic and gliotrophic factors in multiple sclerosis, Neurology 68;38-42.
  14. Rakhade SN, Shah AK, Agarwal R, Yao B, Asano E, and Loeb JA (2007) Activity-dependent Gene Expression Correlates with Interictal Spiking in Human Neocortical Epilepsy. Epilepsia 48 Suppl 5:86-95. Erratum in: Epilepsia. 2007 Dec;48(12):2380.
  15. Rakhade SN and Loeb JA (2008) Focal reduction of neuronal glutamate transporters in human neocortical epilepsy, Epilepsia, Feb;49(2):226-36. Epub 2007 Sep 12.
  16. Pankonin MS, Kamholz J, Sohi J and Loeb JA. (2009) Differential Distribution of Neuregulin in Human Brain and Spinal Fluid Brain Res, 1258, 1-11.
  17. Barkmeier DT, Loeb JA. (2009) An animal model to study the clinical significance of interictal spiking.. Clin. EEG Neurosci , 40, 234-238.
  18. Esper RM and Loeb JA. (2009) Neurotrophin Activation of Protein Kinase C Delta Induces Neuregulin Release from Neurons. J. Biol. Chem. 284(39):26251-60.
  19. Ma Z, Li Q, An, H, Pankonin MS, Loeb JA. (2009) Targeting Her2 Signaling with Neuregulin’s Heparin-Binding Domain J. Biol. Chem. 284(46):32108-15.
  20. De Guzman RC, Loeb JA, VandeVord PJ (2010) Electrospinning of matrigel to deposit a basal lamina-like nanofiber surface. J. Biomat.Sci. 21: 1081-1101.
  21. Calvo M, Zhu N, Tsantoulas C, Ma A, Grist J, Loeb JA, Bennett DLH. (2010) Neuregulin-ErbB signaling promotes microglial proliferation and chemotaxis contributing to microgliosis and pain after peripheral nerve injury. J. Neurosci. 14:5437-50.
  22. Loeb JA. (2010) A human systems biology approach to discover new drug targets in epilepsy. Epilepsia 51 (Suppl.3): 171-177.
  23. Calvo M, Zhu N, Grist J, Ma Z, Loeb JA, Bennett DLH (2011) Following nerve injury neuregulin-1 drives microglial proliferation and neuropathic pain via the MEK/ERK pathway. Glia 59(4):554-68.
  24. Loeb JA. (2011) Identifying targets for preventing epilepsy using systems biology. Neurosci Lett. 497(3):205-12
  25. Ma Z, Wang J, Song F, Loeb JA. (2011) Critical period of axoglial signaling between neuregulin-1 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor required for early Schwann cell survival and differentiation.J Neurosci. 31(26):9630-40.
  26. John J, Li Y, Ahang J, Loeb JA, Xu Y (2011) Microfabrication of 3d neural probes with combined electrical and chemical interfaces. J. Micromech. Microeng. 21 (2011) 105011.
  27. Song F, Chiang P, Wang J, Ma Z, Ravits, J, Loeb JA. (2012) Abberant neuregulin 1 signaling in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Neuropath Exp Neurol, 71:104-15.
  28. Barkmeier DT,, Senador D, Leclercq K, Pai D, Hua J, Boutros NN, Kaminski RM, Loeb JA. (2012) Electrical, Molecular and Behavioral Consequences of the Interictal Epileptic State in the Rat, Neurobiol Disease, 47(1):92-101.
  29. Beaumont TL, Yao B, Shah A, Kapatos G, Loeb JA. (2012) Layer-Specific CREB target gene induction in human neocortical epilepsy, J Neurosci, 32(41):14389-14401.
  30. Lipovich L, Dachet F, Bagla S, Balan K, Cai J, Jia H, Loeb JA, (2012) Activity-dependent human brain coding / non-coding gene regulatory networks, Genetics, (in press).

Clinical Neuroscience Publications:

  1. Loeb JA (1998) Functional improvement in a patient with basal ganglia calcification using a bisphosphonate. Movement disorders 13:345-349.
  2. Loeb JA (1998) Features of Leao’s spreading depression in patients with lesions near sensory cortex. J. Epilepsy 11:110-115.
  3. Loeb JA (2002) Recertification for neurologists, (Post publication peer review; letter to the editor) Neurology (on-line).
  4. Li J, Loeb JA, Shy ME, Shah AK, Tselis AC, Kupski WJ, and Lewis RA (2003) Asymmetric flaccid paralysis: A neuromuscular presentation of West Nile virus infection. Ann. Neurol. 53:703-10.
  5. Nash TE, Del Brutto OH, Butman JA, Corona T, Delgado-Escueta A, duron R, Evans CAW, Gilman RH, Gonzalez AE, Loeb JA, Medina MT, Pietch-Escueta S, Pretell EJ, Takayanagui OM, Theodore W, Tsang VCW, Garcia HH (2004) Calcific neurocysticercosis and epileptogenesis. Neurology 62: 1934-38.
  6. Maslinksi PG an d Loeb JA (2004) Pica-Associated Cerebral Edema in an Adult. J Neurol. Sci 225:149-151.
  7. Loeb JA, Sohrab SA, Huq M, Fuerst, D (2006) Brain calcifications induce neurological dysfunction that can be reversed by a bone drug J. Neurol. Sci. 243:77-81.
  8. TE. Nash, G Singh, AC White, V Rajshekhar, JA Loeb, JV Proaño, OM Takayanagui, AE Gonzalez, JA Butman, C DeGiorgio, OH. Del Brutto, A Delgado-Escueta, CAW Evans, RH Gilman, SM Martinez, MT Medina, J Pretell, J Teale, HH. Garcia (2006) Treatment of Neurocysticercosis – Current Status and Future Research Needs. Neurology, 67(7):1120-7.
  9. Shah AK, Agarwal R, Carhupoma JR, Loeb JA (2006) Compressed EEG pattern analysis for critically ill neurological-neurosurgical patients. Neurocritical Care 5(2):124-33.
  10. Yadav R, Shah AK, Loeb JA, Swamy MNS, Agarwal R (2011) A Novel Unsupervised Spike Sorting Algorithm for Intracranial EEG. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2011:7545-8.
  11. Barkmeier DT, Agarwal R, Atkinson M, Flanagan D, Shah AK, Jafari-Khouzani K, and Loeb JA, (2012) High inter-reviewer variability of spike detection on intracranial EEG addressed by an automated multi-channel algorithm, Clin Neurophysiol, 123(6):1088-95.
  12. Yadav R, Shah AK, Loeb JA, Swamy MNS, Agarwal R (2012) Morphology-based Automatic Seizure Detector for Intracerebral EEG Recordings. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng, 59(7):1871-81.
  13. Simonato M, Löscher W, Cole AJ, Dudek FE, Engel J, Kaminski RM, Loeb JA, Scharfman H, Staley KJ, Velíšek L, Klitgaard H (2012) Finding a better drug for epilepsy: Preclinical screening strategies and experimental trial design, Epilepsia, (in press).

UIC Brain Tumor Center Research & Publications:

  1. Friedman, H.S., Prados, M.D., Wen, P.Y., Mikkelsen, T., Schiff, D., Abrey, L.E., Yung, W.K., Paleologos, N., Nicholas, M.K., Jensen, R., Vredenburgh, J., Huang, J., Zheng, M., & Cloughesy, T. (2009).
    Bevacizumab alone and in combination with irinotecan in recurrent glioblastoma.
    Journal of Clinical Oncology, 27(28), 4733-40.
  2. Wefel, J.S., Cloughesy, T., Zazzali, J.L., Zheng, M., Prados, M., Wen, P.Y., Mikkelsen, T., Schiff, D., Abrey, L.E., Yung, W.K., Paleologos, N., Nicholas, M.K., Jensen, R., Vredenburgh, J., Das, A., & Friedman, H.S. (2011).
    Neurocognitive function in patients with recurrent glioblastoma treated with bevacizumab.
    Neuro-Oncology, 13(6), 60-8
  3. O’Donnell, P.H., Undevia, S.D., Stadler, W.M., Karrison, T.M., Nicholas, M.K., Janisch, L., & Ratain, M.J. (2012).
    A phase I study of continuous infusion cilengitide in patients with solid tumors.
    Investigation of New Drugs, 30(2), 604-10
  4. Tye, K., Engelhard, H.H., Slavin, K.V., Nicholas, M.K., Chmura, S.J., Kwok, Y., Ho, D.S., Weichselbaum, R.R., & Koshy, M. (2014).
    An analysis of radiation necrosis of the central nervous system treated with bevacizumab.
    Journal of Neuro-Oncology, 117(2), 321-7
  5. Liang, Y., Diehn, M., Bollen, A.W., Aldape, K.D., Nicholas, M.K., Lamborn, K.R., Berger, M.S., Botstein, D., Brown, P.O., & Israel, M.A. (2005).
    Gene expression profiling reveals molecularly and clinically distinct subtypes of glioblastoma multiforme.
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 102(16), 5814-5819, 2005.
  6. Nicholas MK, Lukas RV, Chmura S, Yamini B, Lesniak M, Pytel P.
    Molecular heterogeneity in glioblastoma: opportunities and challenges.
    Semin Oncol. 2011 Apr;38(2):243-53.

Research Initiatives

Our Laboratory makes a concerted effort to develop a strong understanding of the developing nervous system as a means to understand human neurological disease and develop novel treatments. There are currently three areas of focus.

Trophic Factors In Development And Disease

Trophic Factors In Development And DiseaseThe first is understanding the early molecular events regulating the formation of synapses and axo-glial junctions in the developing nervous system. Our analysis centers on how soluble regulatory factors such as the neuregulins and neurotrophins work together with neuronal activity to orchestrate development. Many studies underway are examining how neuregulins themselves are regulated during development through regulation of their transcription, post-translational processing and association with the evolving extracellular matrix. One of our missions is to take principles learned from early development and apply these toward understanding and treating human diseases including multiple sclerosis and cancer. Toward this end we have developed a new way to target pharmaceuticals to specific regions in the body and have developed and are commercializing drugs that use this technology. Diseases of of interest include ALS, MS, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Cancer.

Systems Biology Of Human Epilepsy And Development Of Novel Treatments For Epilepsy And Behavioral Disorders

Systems Biology Of Human Epilepsy A second major focus is to decode what makes focal regions of human brain epileptic. We have taken a SYSTEMS BIOLOGY and functional genomic approach using novel experimental and bioinformatic technologies to map genes, proteins, and small molecule expression patterns to the electrical abnormalities in human epileptic tissues removed during epilepsy surgery. We have found a lot of similarities between focal epileptic regions and normal mechanisms that enhance learning and memory paving the way for the identification of new therapeutic targets in human epilepsy. Through this program, we have developed a collaborative project called the ‘Systems Biology of Epilepsy Project’ to bring together a wide range of physiological, molecular, and clinical aspects of human epilepsy into a centralized database.

The ALS Clinic And Research Center

ALS Clinic And Research CenterMost recently, we are developing novel translational research programs on Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS, stay tuned. We are tested a novel therapeutic we developed as well as using a systems biology approach to find new targets.

Dr Jeffrey A.Loeb

Jeffrey A. Loeb
Department Head
Department Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine

Dr. Loeb is a practicing neurologist who is the John S. Garvin Professor and and Head in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 2013. He was formerly the Associate Director of The Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Wayne State University and Professor in the Department of Neurology. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He subsequently completed a residency in Neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and fellowship training in epilepsy at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital. Dr. Loeb conducted postdoctoral work in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School with Dr. Gerald Fischbach where he became interested in how understanding brain development can teach us what goes wrong in human disease and suggest new treatments. He developed a novel way to create biologically targeted protein therapeutics that formed the basis for a biopharmaceutical company he formed in Michigan called GlyTag. He also directs a project to develop new treatments for human epilepsy through the identification of the genes, molecular and cellular signals that underlie the abnormal electrical activities that characterize this common neurological disorder.

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