Rate My Professor John Carib Gensel

John Carib Gensel, PhD, serves as Professor of Physiology in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Director of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC), and SCoBIRC Endowed Chair #5. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000, a Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience from The Ohio State University in 2006, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Ohio State University in 2011. Gensel joined the University of Kentucky in 2012, advancing to Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Physiology. He assumed the role of Acting Director of SCoBIRC in January 2022 and was appointed permanent Director in 2023. Additionally, he co-directs two mentored training programs: the R25 postbaccalaureate program and the T32 graduate program. His career includes significant contributions to research and education within SCoBIRC, a center dedicated to spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury research, supported by over $17 million in awards and 10 endowments.

Gensel's research investigates mechanisms regulating central nervous system macrophages—endogenous microglia and blood-borne monocytes—in response to neurotrauma, including spinal cord and brain injuries. His work explores inducing pro-reparative macrophage phenotypes post-injury, receptors and pathways driving these phenotypes, macrophage responses to traumatic brain injury, age effects on inflammatory responses to neurotrauma, and therapies for human translation. He has authored highly influential publications, such as 'Identification of two distinct macrophage subsets with divergent effects causing either neurotoxicity or regeneration in the injured mouse spinal cord' (Journal of Neuroscience, 2009; 2,659 citations), 'Macrophage activation and its role in repair and pathology after spinal cord injury' (Brain Research, 2015; 946 citations), 'Spinal cord injury scarring and inflammation: therapies targeting glial and inflammatory responses' (Neurotherapeutics, 2018; 663 citations), and 'Microglia and macrophage metabolism in CNS injury and disease: The role of immunometabolism in neurodegeneration and neurotrauma' (Experimental Neurology, 2020; 312 citations). Gensel received the Charles T. Wethington Excellence in Research Award annually from 2013 to 2022 and the Office of Biomedical Education and Biomedical Graduate Student Organization Excellent Mentor Award in 2021. He holds research grants from 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2021.