S1 E8: Dr. Pawel Kiela Discusses the Gut Microbiome, Microglia, and PANDAS

Untangling PANDAS & PANS: Conversations about Infection-Associated, Immune-Mediated Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Pawel Kiela, DVM, PhD currently holds the rank of Professor and has a PANDA endowed chair in Autoimmune Disease Research in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arizona Medical School in Tucson. Dr. Kiela is an integral part of the Steele Children’s Research Center which has four integrated branches: basic science, clinical research, clinical care, and teaching to address a range of neuropsychiatric disorders such as PANS, PANDAS, and Sydenham’s Chorea. He is a lead scientist in two Centers of Excellence: Children’s Post-Infectious Autoimmune Encephalopathy and the Daniel Cracciolo Institute for Pediatric Disease Research and the Associate Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship Program.

Dr. Kiela received his DVM from the Warsaw University of Life Science in Poland and his PhD from the same University and Lund University in Sweden in the developmental physiology of the gastrointestinal tract. His primary research interest is autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, especially Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, gut microbiota, mucosal immunology, and extraintestinal manifestations of intestinal inflammation. I am very happy to say that Dr. Kiela, in recent years, has brought his in-depth understanding of the aforementioned research areas into the study of PANDAS and PANS. (What good fortune for the PANDAS/PANS community.)

When Dr. Kiela isn’t in his lab, you may find him working on his 1962 Airstream travel trailer, a challenging endeavor, he explained as he is essentially bringing his beloved Airstream back to life. This hands-on work keeps his sanity, he joked: “In contrast to the lab work, there are many more opportunities for immediate rewards.”

Note: Dr Kiela’s endowed chair has the remarkably coincidental acronym, PANDA, however, in this case stands for “People Acting Now Discover Answers” and is a gift from the Phoenix Women’s Board of the Steele Children’s Research Center.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
Credits: Music by Kingsley Durant from his "Convertible" album
To learn more about PANDAS and PANS and The Alex Manfull Fund, visit our website: TheAlexManfullFund.org
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