Ante L. Padjen, MD, MSc, DSc (Zagreb)

• Relationship between science, research and development
• Role of capacity building
• Identifying outcomes and/or proxyoutcome to evalute the process
  etc.

• Mechanisms of conduction in large myelinated primary afferents (in particular the role of sodium and potassium conductances in these fibres, including novel potassium conductances identified in the laboratory); Role of cytoskeletal proteins, especially intermediary filaments, in regulation of ion channels in myelinated axons.
• Application of the knowledge gained in the above studies to understand cellular mechanisms - role of ion channels - in pathological states, such as a) diabetic neuropathy; b) neurodegenerative neuropathies, such as in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, by using animal models (chemically induced diabetic animals and transgenic animals with changed expression of neurofilaments or mutated SOD1) with the aim of identifying potential targets for therapeutic interventions.
• Understanding the mechanism of presynaptic inhibition of primary afferent transmission in spinal cord, from identification and characterization of chemical neurotransmitters (in particular the role of GABA, taurine and acidic amino acids); role of modulation of transmission in myelinated axons on sensory processing.

We used electrophysiological techniques on in vitro preparations, supported by multidisciplinary approaches  (computational modeling of neuronal activity; neurochemical and morphological techniques).
 
Selected Publications:

• Elzayat EA, Campeau L, Karsenty G, Blok B, Padjen AL, Corcos J. Effect of Antiepileptic agent, levetiracetam, on urodynamic parameters and neurogenic bladder overactivity in chronically paraplegic Rats. Urology 2009;73(4):922-927.

• Hennessey H, Afara N, Omanovic S, Padjen AL. Electrochemical investigations of the interaction of C-reactive protein (CRP) with a CRP antibody chemically immobilized on a gold surface. Anal Chim Acta 2009;643(1-2):45-53.

• Loscher W, Poulter MO, Padjen AL. Major targets and mechanisms of antiepileptic drugs and major reasons for failure. Adv Neurol 2006;97:417-427.

• Kriz J. & Padjen, A.L. (2003) Intra-axonal recording from large sensory myelinated axons: Demonstration of impaired membrane conductances in early experimental diabetes. Diabetologia 46, 213 - 221 [pdf]

• Kriz J., Zhu Q., Julien J.P., and Padjen A.L. (2000) Electrophysiological properties of axons in mice lacking neurofilament subunit genes: disparity between conduction velocity and axon diameter in absence of NF-H . Brain Research 885: 32-44 [pdf]
  
• Kriz J., Mayer J., Julien J.P., and Padjen A.L. (2000) Altered ionic conductances in axons of transgenic mouse expressing the human neurofilament heavy gene: a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Experimental Neurology 163: 414-421. [pdf]
  
• Poulter, M.O., Padjen, A.L., Hashiguchi, T. (1995) Evidence for sodium dependent potassium conductance in frog myelinated axon. Neuroscience 68:487-495.
  
• Poulter, M.O., Padjen, A.L. (1995) Different voltage dependent potassium conductances regulate action potential repolarization and excitability in frog myelinated axon. Neuroscience 68: 497-504.
  
• Poulter, M.O., Hashiguchi, T. and Padjen, A.L. (1993) An examination of frog myelinated axons using intracellular microelectrode recording: the role of the voltage dependent and leak conductances on the steady state electrical properties. Journal of Neurophysiology 70:2001-2012.
  
• Padjen, A.L. and Mitsoglou, G.M. (1990) Some characteristics of baclofen-evoked responses of primary afferents in frog spinal cord. Brain Research 516:201-207.

1. Role of information technology in medical education and practice
2. "Knowledge translation", knowledge management 

• Salasidis, R., Padjen, A.L. and Fleiszer, D. (1991) Patient management in the ICU: The PDB System; in 15th Annual SCAMC, ed. Clayton, P.D., New York: McGraw-Hill. 990-992.

Other Links:

    CAI Unit, IBRO Edu, IBRO
    also
    I Medici di McGill Orchestra, AMCA Québec