Tom Longden

Dr. Longden has been studying the cerebral circulation for over fifteen years. After obtaining his Ph.D at the University of Manchester under the mentorship of Dr. Gillian Edwards and Arthur Weston he moved to the US for his postdoctoral training under Dr. Mark Nelson at the University of Vermont. In 2019 he joined the department of physiology at the University of Maryland Baltimore to start his research group. His lab uses advanced imaging techniques (such as high-speed multiphoton and confocal microscopy), molecular, and electrophysiological approaches, which enables linkage of molecular activity to systems-level physiology.

Precise control of blood flow is essential for ensuring brain cells have enough energy to fulfill their functions. Dr. Longden’s group is exploring novel signaling mechanisms that brain pericytes use to adjust blood flow to protect brain metabolism. Pericytes reside on capillaries, the smallest of brain blood vessels, extending extremely delicate processes which cover the entirety of the capillary bed of the brain. They were first identified over a century ago, but we still lack a basic understanding of their functions, largely due to the experimental challenges that their fine processes and intimate association with the vasculature and other cells of the brain impose.