Associate Professor, Department of Neurology
Dr. Gordon Meares is an Associate Professor of Neurology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, with a joint appointment in Microbial Infection and Immunity. His research examines how astrocytes and microglia regulate neuroinflammation and cellular stress responses in neurological disease. Before joining OSU in 2023, Dr. Meares led an NIH-funded neuroimmunology program at West Virginia University. He previously received a Career Transition Fellowship from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he also earned his PhD studying molecular mechanisms of neuronal cell death.
Research interests
The Meares Lab investigates how glial cells coordinate immune and stress-response pathways that determine outcomes after CNS injury or inflammation. Astrocytes and microglia are key regulators of neuroinflammatory balance—integrating stress signals, cytokine networks, and metabolic cues to influence neuronal survival and immune cell recruitment.
Our work defines how these glial pathways become maladaptive in neurological disease. We focus on:
- JAK/STAT signaling in astrocytes and microglia that amplifies or resolves inflammation.
- Integrated stress response (ISR) activation and translational control mechanisms that reshape glial function under stress.
- Cytokine and chemokine programs that mediate cross-talk between glia, T cells, and infiltrating immune populations.
- Translational interventions, including small-molecule ISR and JAK modulators, that may restore homeostatic glial states.
We integrate conditional knockout models, transcriptomics, and proteomics, and to dissect these pathways in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), ischemic stroke, and neurodegeneration. The overarching goal is to translate mechanistic insight into therapeutic strategies targeting maladaptive glial responses in neurological disease.
Education and training
- Postdoctoral training: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Cellular, Developmental and Integrative Biology, Birmingham, AL
- PhD: 2007 University of Alabama at Birmingham
- BS: 2001 Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Editorial boards
- ASN Neuro
- Frontiers – Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology
Professional activities
Grant Reviewer:
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) - Standing Member Biomedical Committee A
- NIH - Cellular and Molecular Biology of Glia (ad hoc)
- NIH - Neural Oxidative Metabolism, Mitochondria, and cell Death (ad hoc)
- Congressionally Directed Medical Research (ad hoc)
Honors and awards
- NMSS career transition fellowship
- Blavatnik Award Nominee
Grants and projects
- 2017 – 2027 R01 NS099304, PERK Dependent Mechanisms of Neuroinflammation