The Leclerc Lab
Welcome to Dr. Leclerc’s Research Lab
The Leclerc Lab focuses broadly on how certain clinically relevant anesthetic paradigms can be used to aid the clearance of toxic substances from the brain in a variety of neuropathological states to thereby improve patient outcomes. The glymphatic pathway is a recently discovered waste clearance system in the brain that utilizes unique channels around blood vessels to promote effective elimination of soluble proteins and metabolites from the central nervous system.
During sleep, these channels are more active and the spaces around blood vessels enlarge allowing for increased bulk outflow of substances from the brain. Anesthetics strongly and differentially affect the glymphatic pathway and thus may be harnessed to augment the clearance of neurotoxic substances that accumulate under various neuropathological conditions.
The Leclerc Laboratory aims to characterize how various clinically relevant sleep-inducing anesthetics modulate the glymphatic pathway to improve the clearance of these neurotoxic substances. Understanding what anesthetic combination optimally augments the clearance would allow clinical translation to improve patient care in the intensive care unit.
About the Leclerc Lab
Jenna Leclerc, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor,
Departments of Anesthesiology & Neuroscience
Jenna L. Leclerc, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Neuroscience at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Dr. Leclerc earned her two Bachelors of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Microbiology and Cell Science, her PhD in Neuroscience, and her Medical degree at the University of Florida. She completed her Anesthesiology residency and Critical Care fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University.
Dr. Leclerc is a clinician investigator who is active clinically as an Anesthesiologist and Critical Care Intensivist in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit and is the Principal Investigator of a Translational Neuroscience Research Laboratory. As a clinician investigator, Dr. Leclerc is interested in translational preclinical research as well as clinical research and has a solid publication history in both areas. Her translation work utilizes cutting edge novel techniques in preclinical models to study how various anesthetic paradigms influence the glymphatic pathway and the clearance of neurotoxic substances from the brain under a variety of neuropathological states, including several conditions she treats as a clinician.
Dr. Leclerc’s clinical research aims to translate her preclinical work to the cardiothoracic intensive care unit with an emphasis on the glymphatic pathway’s contribution to delirium and cognitive dysfunction post-operatively following cardiac surgery, under septic conditions, and during/after mechanically circulatory support. Over the years, her research has been recognized and awarded with numerous research grants and awards and has been presented at several national and international meetings.
Selected Publications
Leclerc JL, Blackburn S, Neal D, Mendez NV, Wharton JA, Waters MF, Doré S. Haptoglobin phenotype predicts the development of focal and global cerebral vasospasm and may influence outcomes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 112(4):1155-60, 2015. PMID: 25583472.
Leclerc JL, Santiago-Moreno J, Dang A, Lampert AS, Cruz PE, Rosario AM, Golde TE, Doré S. Increased brain hemopexin levels improve outcomes after intracerebral hemorrhage. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2018 Jun;38(6):1032-1046. PMID: 27864463.
Leclerc JL, Lampert AS, Loyola Amador C, Schlakman B, Vasilopolous T, Svendsen P, Moestrup SK, Doré S. The absence of the CD163 receptor has distinct temporal influences on intracerebral hemorrhage outcomes. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2018 Feb;38(2):262-273. PMID: 28358264.
Gaastra B, Ren D, Alexander S, Bennett ER, Bielawski DM, Blackburn SL, Borsody MK, Doré S, Galea J, Garland P, He T, Iihara K, Kawamura Y, Leclerc JL, Meschia JF, Pizzi MA, Tamargo RJ, Yang W, Nyquist PA, Bulters DO, Galea I. Haptoglobin genotype and aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage: individual patient data analysis. Neurology. 2019 Apr 30; 92 (18):e2150-e2164.
Leclerc JL, Li C, Jean S, Lampert AS, Amador CL, Diller MA, Tolosano E, Doré S. Temporal and age-dependent effects of haptoglobin deletion on intracerebral hemorrhage-induced brain damage and neurobehavioral outcomes. Exp Neurol. 2019 Jul:317:22-33.
For a full list of publications, please see the publications link here for Dr. Jenna L. Leclerc, MD, PhD.
We are always looking for talented and intellectually curious individuals to join our team. If you’re interested, please contact Dr. Leclerc.
Jenna Leclerc, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Departments of Anesthesiology & Neuroscience
Division of Critical Care Medicine
University of Virginia Health System
cxx3cm@uvahealth.org