Building Connections: Travis Rotterman Uses the Spinal Cord as a Bridge into the Human World
Assistant Professor Travis Rotterman studies CNS function and malfunction in rodents to understand human systems.
By Danny Giancioppo, Photo by Jackie Ricciardi, Figures provided by the Rotterman Group
Photo by Jackie Ricciardi for Boston University
Growing up working on a farm, the lab might seem a lifetime away. The world may instead be centered around strenuous physical effort, community, and––of course––small-town sports. At least, this was the case for Assistant Professor Travis Rotterman (Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics), who discovered at an early age his interest in how the body moves and what may disrupt motor function. From there, his view of the world, as well as his place in it, broadened.
“I always had an inclination toward science and engineering,” Rotterman says, despite not initially aiming to pursue a career in it. “I grew up in a really rural place, so I spent a lot of time immersed in the woods. I think that’s where my love for biology, specifically, started.” After years of farming, Rotterman claims he “knew [he] did not want to farm for the rest of [his] life,” and so higher education was the natural step toward a new path.
As a former athlete, Rotterman’s fascination with postural stability and speed, among other physical attributes, led to an interest in sports medicine. Following enrollment in Wright State University, he found himself in a spinal cord lab in a pre-med program, during which time he both discovered a passion for the research and that not everything about the pre-med path was for him.
“I quickly realized I don’t want to work with patients directly,” he explains. “So I was able to get involved in this research lab. I didn’t know anything going into it, but I had a really good mentor who was able to guide me in my academic career path. I fell in love with research at that point, and took off from there. Having that undergraduate research experience is what really locked me into the career path that I’m in.”
That path has led him to running his own research group at Boston University, in which he studies Central Nervous System (CNS) and spinal cord function. In the Rotterman Lab, the goals range from understanding neural circuit connectivity and function to advancing treatment methods. In dealing with a part of the body that is both life giving, and if injured, life altering, this makes sense, as Rotterman feels it is a majorly important research focus.
“You end up with an injury you’re living with for the rest of your life,” he says. “This is incredibly debilitating and has a drastic impact on your quality of life.” Other diseases, he continues, such as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, can be fatal, and with limited treatment options.
Minimal treatment options can stem from a lack of neurogenesis––or naturally growing stem cells––in fully developed brain regions. After an area of the brain is damaged, in other words, it can be difficult to repair. Yet, while the CNS is not adept at self-repair, there remains a sizable potential for plasticity in the brain and brain function. Reading braille, for example, requires a certain distinguishing skill that those who are visually impaired may have more aptitude for than those who are not. This is where Rotterman’s lab optimizes its research goals; specifically, with rodent brains.
“We’re a physiology lab,” Rotterman says. “We’re looking at whole-animal, whole-system function. While we’re studying [the] spinal cord or motor control, we’re interested in the context of the entire animal.” Doing so helps address neural circuit connectivity and function in normal states, so as to better tackle injuries and malfunctions as they appear. “We have to have a better understanding of how things work normally to understand how to address them in injury and disease.”
While there are limitations to rodent models, they have a majorly homologous gene structure to humans: from cell pathways, to ion channels, to neurotransmitters, with an 85-90% similarity rate. How certain connections cause sensory motor function can vary, but the fundamental reflexes and operation are quite similar. As the Rotterman lab’s research is more invasive, dissecting and studying rodent spinal cords allows the lab to take a more in-depth look at the CNS without having to invade the human spinal cord. By manipulating circuits, activating or suppressing neurons of interest, and undergoing dedicated physiological investigations (among other practices), rodent brains prove a robust vehicle for understanding and modulating CNS function.
Another arm of the lab, Rotterman explains, is interested in the translational aspects under the umbrella of neuropathy: peripheral nerve injury, inherited peripheral neuropathy, and chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, to name a few. When peripheral nerves––such as those in the limbs––are damaged, it impacts central connectivity as well. In addressing these maladaptive changes between sensory and motor neurons, the lab aims to enhance the treatment of CNS injuries as more widespread throughout the body.
Overall, the name of the game is to prevent maladaptive injury and nerve function. “Ultimately, how do we prevent maladaptive changes from occurring?” Rotterman says. “We’re trying to find ways to prevent maladaptive plasticity and also promote normal sensory motor function in disease and injuries.”
Naturally, these research interests fall into place with one another; yet it’s not just their own lab goals that align. One of Rotterman’s leading causes for coming to Boston University was for its variety of expertise and convergent research opportunities. Having started in April of 2025, Rotterman’s focus has been on getting his research group established, slowly building collaborations outside the lab––both at Medical and Charles River campuses.
In particular, Rotterman has begun working with Dr. Lauren Brown (CHEM) at the Center for Molecular Discovery. Their shared interest in a certain ion channel has already allowed them to begin to work together to diagnose and modulate said channel’s activity and serves as a solid example of what Rotterman hopes to achieve with future collaborations.
Rotterman has also expressed interest in a future collaboration with Dr. Tuan Leng Tay (BIO), an expert in glial biology. “A lot of the injuries and diseases that I’ve mentioned have this neuroinflammation component,” Rotterman says. “You damage these circuits or connections, and you have this rapid glial response in the nervous system. That’s something we’re interested in exploring further, because we think these reactions are what’s driving a lot of the synaptic changes we see.”
Recently, Dr. Nikolaos Daskalakis (MED) was hired through the school of medicine as a high-level expert in computational neuroscience and biomarker analysis––tools which Rotterman and team would love to work with as a “bridge into the human world.” A potential collaboration could allow Rotterman to utilize sample biomarkers to express what genes might be “turned on” or molecular targets that are dysregulated in patients with disease.
This interdisciplinary preference for research extends to graduate students, as well. In Rotterman’s own words, “broad is good,” when it comes to prospective lab members.
“Right now we are a team of four, including a lab manager, two PhD students, and an undergraduate researcher,” Rotterman says. With neuroscience, physiology, and research tech backgrounds currently on board, as well as an undergraduate, there may be a preference for neuroscience, but it’s not at all required. “We’re definitely open-minded to anybody who could bring value and hopefully get a good experience in the lab.” Computer Science majors, he says, are also instrumental for their unique quantitative approaches, which other researchers may not have.
“The biggest thing,” Rotterman says, “is that we’re open and hoping to building some interdisciplinary collaborations across different departments and between campuses. We’ve been focused on us to get established, but I think we’ve made a lot of progress since I got here in April! I just hope to spread the word that this is what we do, and if there’s something we can help with, we’re definitely interested in building new connections.”