(Boston)—Nobuyuki Ishibashi, MD, professor of anatomy & neurobiology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been awarded a four-year, $6.5 M grant from the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program for his project, “Brief Caspase Inhibition for Neuroprotection in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.”
Many children with complex congenital heart disease (CHD) suffer from life-long neurological deficits and behavioral problems even after successful surgery. Both genetic and acquired risk factors are associated with these abnormalities. Results from multiple clinical studies have suggested that the same genes that cause CHD also result in the associated neuronal and behavioral impairments. However, the mechanism by which CHD-linked mutations affect molecular/cellular programs underlying neurodevelopment is largely unexplored and poorly understood, preventing development of effective therapeutic approaches for brain injury.
“Our research focuses on understanding how CHD and subsequent cardiac surgery impact the rapidly developing brain during the fetal, neonatal and infant stages. The long-term goal is to optimize treatment strategies and develop novel therapies that reduce neurodevelopmental impairment in children living with CHD,” says Ishibashi.
Pediatric surgery can activate a family of proteins known as caspases that respond to signals like DNA damage, disease or inflammation and kill and cleave off damaged or diseased cells in the developing brain. Ishibashi and his team will test a caspase inhibitor during and immediately following anesthesia in hopes of improving anesthetics-induced impairments of motor skill learning in an experimental model. “If successful, the research could lead to new standards of care not only for children with CHD but for other populations who need to undergo major surgery early in life,” he adds.
Ishibashi arrived at BU in March 2025 after spending 19 years at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, where he served as a principal investigator at the Center for Neuroscience Research and director of the Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratory and held the Foglia-Hills Chair for Pediatric Cardiac Research.
He earned his medical degree from Gunma University School of Medicine in Japan in 1998 and completed his clinical training in surgery, cardiovascular surgery and pediatric cardiac surgery at the Heart Institute of Japan, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, obtaining certifications from both the Japanese Board of Surgery and the Japanese Board of Cardiovascular Surgery.
Ishibashi received further training through a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children’s National Hospital. He has been recognized for his pioneering work on the relationship between the subventricular zone and cortical growth in CHD, earning distinction in both the cardiovascular and neuroscience fields.
His translational research program has achieved key milestones, including the development of the NIH-funded Phase 1 MeDCaP clinical trial at Children’s National Hospital. This trial, which he led as principal investigator, demonstrated the safety and feasibility of a cell-based therapeutic approach.