Research Interests

I have several areas of interest in research regarding multiple sclerosis, both in basic research and in clinical research. My main interest at the moment is the relation between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and MS. Just about everyone gets infected with EBV at some time during childhood, and there are several very solid studies which link EBV and MS. We are doing studies to determine whether EBV actually causes MS or not. If you are one of my clinic patients, I have probably asked you to donate blood for these studies (thanks!). If you are interested in being part of these studies, you can use the contact information to volunteer.

I am also doing a clinical study of the combination of interferon (Avonex) and glatiramer (Copaxone). These two medicines are both partially effective in treating relapsing-remitting MS, but they do very different things. The hope is that the two treatments used together will be more effective than either alone. This is a multi-center study funded by the National Institutes of Health, and is still recruiting new patients. To be eligible, you cannot have been treated with either interferon or glatiramer before. If you think you are eligible and are interested, you can find out more by calling our study nurse, Stacy Crandall, at 713-500-7045.

My colleague Dr. Flavia Nelson is doing an interesting study of a new oral medicine (pill) called fingolimod for relapsing-remitting MS. This treatment had very promising results in previous studies. The main drawback to the trial is that it is placebo-controlled, so 1/3 of the people will not be on effective treatment. We are mainly recommending this study to people who have not done well on treatment with interferon or glatiramer before or people who just won't give themselves shots. You can contact Stacy Crandall for more information.

A partial listing of my research publications is below:

JW Lindsey, S Patel. PCR for bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA in multiple sclerosis cerebrospinal fluid. Mult Scler. in press, 2007.

JW Lindsey, S Patel, J Zou. Epstein-Barr virus genotypes in multiple sclerosis. Acta Neurol. Scand. in press, 2007.

JW Lindsey. Dexamethasone-induced Ras-related protein 1 is a potential regulatory protein in B lymphocytes. Int. Immunol. 19:583-590, 2007.

Wolinsky JS, Narayana PA, O'Connor P, Coyle PK, Ford C, Johnson K, Miller A, Pardo L, Kadosh S, Ladkani D; PROMiSe Trial Study Group. Glatiramer acetate in primary progressive multiple sclerosis: results of a multinational, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ann Neurol. 61:14-24, 2007.

Ford CC, Johnson KP, Lisak RP, Panitch HS, Shifronis G, Wolinsky JS; Copaxone Study Group. A prospective open-label study of glatiramer acetate: over a decade of continuous use in multiple sclerosis patients. Mult Scler. 12:309-20, 2006.

Filippi M, Wolinsky JS, Comi G; CORAL Study Group. Effects of oral glatiramer acetate on clinical and MRI-monitored disease activity in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis: a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study. Lancet Neurol. 5:213-20, 2006.

JW Lindsey. Familial recurrence rates and genetic models of multiple sclerosis. Am. J. Med. Genet. A 135A:53-58, 2005.

SA Brod, JW Lindsey, FS Vriesendorp, C Ahn, E Henninger, PA Narayana, JS Wolinsky. Ingested IFN-a: Results of a pilot study in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Neurology 57:845-852, 2001.

JS Wolinsky, PA Narayana, KP Johnson, the Copolymer 1 Multiple Sclerosis Study Group and the MRI Analysis Center. United States Open-Label Glatiramer Acetate Extension Trial for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis: MRI and Clinical Correlates. Mult Scler 7:33-41, 2001.

KP Johnson, K. P., BR Brooks, CC Ford, A Goodman, J Guarnaccia, RP Lisak, LW Myers, HS Panitch, A Pruitt, JW Rose, N Kachuck, JS Wolinsky, and the Copolymer 1 Multiple Sclerosis Study Group. Sustained clinical benefits of glatiramer acetate in relapsing multiple sclerosis patients observed for 6 years. Mult Scler 6:255, 2000.

JS Wolinsky, PA Narayana, JH Noseworthy, FD Lublin, JN Whitaker, A Linde, P Gjorstrup, HC Sullivan, and the MRI Analysis Center of the University of Texas-Houston, Health Science Center, and the North American Linomide Investigators. Linomide in relapsing and secondary progressive MS. Part II: MRI results. Neurology 54:1734-1741, 2000.

SA Brod, JW Lindsey, and JS Wolinsky. Combination therapy with glatiramer acetate (copolymer-1) and a type I interferon (IFN-alpha) does not improve experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Ann Neurol 47:127-31, 2000.

JW Lindsey. An alkali-soluble factor present in normal brain tissue inhibits antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation. J Neuroimmunol 103:76-83, 2000.

JW Lindsey and R Jin. Immune regulatory effects of central nervous system antigens in culture. Int Immunol 12:1605-1612, 2000.

JH Noseworthy, JS Wolinsky, FD Lublin, JN Whitaker, A Linde, P Gjorstrup, HC Sullivan, and the North American Linomide Investigators. Linomide in relapsing and secondary progressive MS. Part I: Trial design and clinical results. Neurology 54:1726-1733, 2000.

KP Johnson, BR Brooks, JA Cohen, CC Ford, J Goldstein, RP Lisak, LW Myers, HS Panitch, JW Rose, RB Schiffer, T Vollmer, LP Weiner, JS Wolinsky, and the Copolymer 1 Multiple Sclerosis Study Group. Extended use of Glatiramer acetate (Copaxone) is well tolerated and maintains its clinical effect on multiple sclerosis relapse rate and degree of disability. Neurology 50:701-708, 1998.

JW Lindsey. Use of reinduced EAE to evaluate the importance of epitope spread. Int Immunol 10:743-748, 1998.

PW Nance, WA Sheremata, SG Lynch, T Vollmer, S Hudson, GS Francis, P O’Connor, JA Cohen, RT Schapiro, R Whitham, MK Mass, JW Lindsey, and K Shellenberger. Relationship of the antispasticity effect of tizanidine to plasma concentration in patients with multiple sclerosis. Arch Neurol 54:731-736, 1997.

JW Lindsey, RH Kerman, JS Wolinsky. T cell-T cell activation in multiple sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis Clin Lab Res 3:238-242, 1997.

JW Lindsey. Characteristics of initial and reinduced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Immunogenetics 44:292-297, 1996.

JW Lindsey, M Pappolla, and L Steinman. Reinduction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice. Cell Immunol 162:235-240, 1995.

JW Lindsey, S Hodgkinson, R Mehta, RC Siegel, DJ Mitchell, M Lim, C Piercy, T Tram, L Dorfman, D Enzmann, and L Steinman. Phase 1 clinical trial of chimeric monoclonal anti-CD4 antibody in multiple sclerosis. Neurology 44:413-419, 1994.

JW Lindsey, S Hodgkinson, R Mehta, D Mitchell, D Enzmann, and L Steinman. Repeated treatment with chimeric anti-CD4 antibody in multiple sclerosis. Ann Neurol 36:183-189, 1994.

JW Lindsey and L Steinman. Competitive PCR quantification of CD4, CD8, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and MHC Class II mRNA in the central nervous system during development and resolution of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. J Neuroimmunol 48:227-234, 1993.

RB Bell, JW Lindsey, RA Sobel, S Hodgkinson, and L Steinman. Diverse T cell receptor V gene usage in the central nervous system in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. J Immunol 150:4085-4092, 1993.