Biography

Barbara Stopschinski, M.D., is originally from Essen in Germany. She graduated from Medical School at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany in 2010. During this time, she completed her medical thesis with a focus on actin nucleation at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany. She then completed 4 years of residency training in neurology at the University Hospital in Aachen, Germany. She joined the Diamond laboratory in the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases here at UTSW as a postdoctoral fellow between 2015-2019, working on mechanisms of cellular tau uptake in tauopathies. She completed her residency in Neurology at UTSW in June 2023, and subsequently joined the faculty in July 2023 as Instructor and fellow in behavioral neurology. She has her own research laboratory with a focus on the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving tau uptake and propagation, and the mechanisms connecting neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in tauopathies. Her research interests are directly connected with her clinical practice, where she treats patients with cognitive impairment and dementia such as Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Education

Medical School
Ruhr University Bochum (2010), None

Research Interest

  • Cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration in tauopathies
  • Cellular mechanisms of tau uptake and propagation
  • The association between neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in tauopathies
  • The impact of heparan sulfate proteoglycans on tau pathophysiology

Publications

Blood Markers in Relation to a History of Traumatic Brain Injury Across Stages of Cognitive Impairment in a Diverse Cohort
Lobue C, Stopschinski BE, Saez Calveras N, Douglas PM, Huebinger R, Cullum CM, Hart J, Gonzales MM Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 2024 Jan 97 345-358
DnaJC7 specifically regulates tau seeding
Perez VA, Sanders DW, Mendoza-Oliva A, Stopschinski BE, Mullapudi V, White CL, Joachimiak LA, Diamond MI eLife 2023 Jun 12
Microglia as a cellular target of diclofenac therapy in Alzheimer’s disease
Stopschinski BE, Weideman RA, McMahan D, Jacob DA, Little BB, Chiang HS, Saez Calveras N, Stuve O Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders 2023 Jan 16
Clinical Reasoning: A 59-Year-Old Man with Thymoma and Constitutional Symptoms, Seizures, and Multifocal CNS Lesions
Stopschinski BE, Fredrich S, Vernino S, Phillips L, Blackburn KM Neurology 2022 Dec 99 1115-1121
Evidence-Based Evaluation and Management of Cognitive Impairment in Dementia With Lewy Bodies
Khera A, Stopschinski BE, Chiang HS Psychiatric Annals 2022 Oct 52 404-409
Cognitive Decline in Older People with Multiple Sclerosis—A Narrative Review of the Literature
Chiang HS, Khera A, Stopschinski BE, Stuve O, Hart J, Kelley B, Nguyen T Geriatrics (Switzerland) 2022 Jun 7
Anatomic survey of seeding in Alzheimer’s disease brains reveals unexpected patterns
Stopschinski BE, Del Tredici K, Estill-Terpack SJ, Ghebremdehin E, Yu FF, Braak H, Diamond MI Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2021 Dec 9
A synthetic heparinoid blocks Tau aggregate cell uptake and amplification
Stopschinski BE, Thomas TL, Nadji S, Darvish E, Fan L, Holmes BB, Modi AR, Finnell JG, Kashmer OM, Estill-Terpack S, Mirbaha H, Luu HS, Diamond MI Journal of Biological Chemistry 2020 Mar 295 2974-2983
Specific glycosaminoglycan chain length and sulfation patterns are required for cell uptake of tau versus -synuclein and -amyloid aggregates
Stopschinski BE, Holmes BB, Miller GM, Manon VA, Vaquer-Alicea J, Prueitt WL, Hsieh-Wilson LC, Diamond MI Journal of Biological Chemistry 2018 Jul 293 10826-10840
Distribution of formins in cardiac muscle: FHOD1 is a component of intercalated discs and costameres
Al Haj A, Mazur AJ, Radaszkiewicz K, Radaszkiewicz T, Makowiecka A, Stopschinski BE, Schönichen A, Geyer M, Mannherz HG European Journal of Cell Biology 2015 Feb 94 101-113

Honors & Awards

  • Alzheimer’s Association Clinician Scientist Fellowship Award
    3 years (2023)
  • Aging Mind Fellow, The Aging Mind Foundation
    (2018-2020)
  • Poster travel award for ANA meeting in 10/2018
    (2018)
  • Carl B. and Florence E. King Foundation Award in Alzheimer’s Disease
    (2017-2018)
  • Scholarship Clinical Research Program, University Hospital Aachen, Germany
    (2015-2017)
  • Scholarship, exchange program between the Université François-Rabelais de Tours, France and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
    (2006-2007)
  • Scholar of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation)
    (2004-2010)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

  • Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases (2023)
  • Department of Neurology (2023)