Wendy Macklin, PhD
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School
Wendy Macklin, PhD, investigates oligodendrocytes and myelination in normal and pathologic brain function, studying both brain development and neurodegenerative disorders and autoimmune diseases of the adult central nervous system (CNS). She studies the role of B cells and immunoglobulins (IgGs) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. This collaboration with Drs. Jeff Bennett and Greg Owens investigates how MS-derived recombinant IgGs in the presence of complement mediate CNS demyelination and the separate IgG impact during remyelination. Dr. Macklin also studies signaling pathways in early brain development. Oligodendrocyte/neuron interactions are crucial for normal brain development, but her recent studies suggest that the relative impact of these interactions during development is different from that in the adult.
Dr. Macklin has served on and chaired numerous study sections at NIH, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Shriners. She served on the Board of Scientific Counselors at NINDS from 2018-2022. She was named a Distinguished Professor of the University of Colorado in 2019, elected a Fellow of AAAS in 2020 and was a Javits Neuroscience Investigator from 2017-2025.