Jeremy Chopek, PhD

Research summary

Dr. Chopek’s research focuses on understanding the neural circuits and mechanisms involved in producing coordinated motor output and how disruption of these circuits such as spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to loss of motor, sensory and autonomic functions. There are currently over 80,000 people in Canada living with SCI. SCI is a life-altering event that results not only in impaired motor function / paralysis but also sympathetic support of body tissues. This is a result of the loss of communication between descending and ascending circuits within the brainstem and spinal cord that regulate motor and autonomic functions.

Dr. Chopek’s research aims to understand how these circuits are disrupted and how these circuits can be targeted to improve not only a person’s ability to walk but also improve overall health of people living with SCI. To achieve this, fundamental understanding of how these brainstem-spinal neural circuits work under everyday conditions to produce coordinate movements is essential in order to have translational outcomes for improved motor functions, health and quality of life in people with SCI.

Dr. Chopek’s research program focuses are:

1. Determining the role of spinal interneurons in sensory motor integration.
2. Determining the spinal neural circuitry and mechanisms integrating somatic motor and sympathetic functions.
3. Determining brainstem spinal neural circuits for postural and motor control.

Dr. Chopek obtained his PhD in physiology within the neuroscience division from UM. His worked focused on understanding differences in spinal reflex pathways that are perturbed following spinal cord injury and how exercise and neuromodulatory drugs could attenuate these changes. Dr. Chopek gained experience in in-vivo electrophysiology, spinal cord injury models, laser-capture microdissection, RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry.

Dr. Chopek then pursued a four-year postdoctorate fellowship with Drs. Zhang and Brownstone at Dalhousie University and later at University College London, UK. There, Dr. Chopek developed expertise in neural connectivity using optical methods for stimulation combined with in-vitro electrophysiology and fluorescent tract tracing techniques in genetic mouse models.

These genetic models allow for the visualization and manipulation of classes of neurons that are involved in movement. This work demonstrated a wide diversity of subpopulations of neurons involved in movement and the complexity of micro-circuit formation within these subpopulations of neurons.

Dr. Chopek is now an assistant professor in the UM’s physiology and pathophysiology department, and a core member of the Spinal Cord Research Centre.

His research is focused on further understanding microcircuit formation and how these circuits initiate and execute movement in normal conditions and how these circuits can be targeted and manipulated for therapeutic or rehabilitative interventions after spinal cord injury.

Education

• Postdoctorate fellowship (neuromuscular disease), University College London (2017-2018)
• Postdoctorate fellowship (medical neuroscience and anatomy), Dalhousie University (2014-2017)
• PhD (physiology), University of Manitoba (2014)
• Master of science (kinesiology), University of Manitoba (2009)
• Bachelor of arts (kinesiology), University of Winnipeg (2007)