Ike C. De La Pena, PhD

Ike de la Peña obtained his PhD in Pharmacology at Sahmyook University, South Korea, and pursued postdoctoral fellowships in Neurosurgery and Brain Repair at the University of South Florida, and Neuropharmacology in Loma Linda University. He has been doing translational research in drug addiction, neurodevelopmental disorders and adult brain injuries for over 10 years. His preclinical research on drug addiction and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) yielded potential genetic biomarkers of psychostimulant addiction and ADHD presentations/subtypes. He has also provided groundbreaking evidence solidifying the role of vascular repair to extend therapeutic window for ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury treatment. His current research interests, aside from the aforementioned topics, include understanding mechanisms of and developing treatments for the cognitive dysfunction caused by obesity and hypertension.