Keck School Faculty

Dr. Kelland is interested in the effect of the immune system and inflammation on cells of the nervous system (neural cells), especially those responsible for myelination and remyelination. Dr. Kelland received her formal Ph.D. training at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, where she studied the mechanisms of glutamate and zinc toxicity in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (the brain stem cells responsible for myelination). In 2004, she was recruited, as a postdoctoral fellow, to the University of Southern California and was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Neurology in 2011.

Dr. Kelland has received grant support from the Race to Erase MS, the USC Medical Faculty Women's Association, the SC-CTSI and the Zumberge Foundation. Current research projects in Dr. Kelland’s laboratory focus on defining the effect of chemokines and chemokine receptors on the potential for neural stem cells and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells to repair types of neural damage that occur in multiple sclerosis (MS) as well as the role of the renin-angiotensin system in MS disease pathogenesis. Additional projects in Dr. Kelland’s laboratory involve the study of new drugs for MS, and whether they affect the ability of neural stem cells and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells to repair neural damage.