Waters Laboratory
The Waters Laboratory is led by principal investigator Michael Waters, MD, PhD. Dr. Waters is board certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with subspecialty board certification in vascular neurology. Having practiced in this discipline for over twenty years, he has witnessed first-hand the enormous progress made understanding vascular disease, as well as the development of therapies to treat and prevent stroke. However, stroke remains the second leading cause of death in the world, and first in adult disability. As such, the continued need for discovery and research is great. Taking care of patients in the hospital is extraordinarily motivating to continue pursuing treatment strategies and basic knowledge of this devastating disease.
Our research is focused on treatment in the acute setting of a stroke. We remain with limited options for our patients and believe that developing treatments in early time windows may provide great benefit to them. Our current investigations include mitigating the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETS) to save hypo-perfused penumbral tissue, utilizing perfluorocarbon oxygen carriers to increase microvascular oxygen concentration, and investigating genetic causes of neurodegeneration which often present with stroke-like symptoms such as region-specific degeneration due to mutations in voltage-gated potassium channels or mutations in NOTCH-3.
Dr. Waters’ expertise includes stroke and neurovascular disease, including signs, symptoms, diagnostics, and treatments. He is a fellow of both the American Academy of Neurology and American Heart Association and a member of the American Neurological Association, American Society of Human Genetics, and the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology.
Dr. Waters received his master’s degree in genetics from Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania, and his doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from The University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, where he also completed his MD. He completed his neurology residency training at the University of California – Los Angeles and completed his fellowship in clinical and molecular neurogenetics at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
