The overarching theme of the McAlpine lab is to study brain-body interactions in cardiovascular and neurological pathologies. We focus on how leukocytes and glial cells interact in the brain and how the brain and peripheral immune system communicate through neuropeptide and inflammatory pathways to program myeloid cell function in atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and neurodegeneration. We use mouse models and human trials to study how lifestyle factors, like sleep and exercise, modulate these interactions. The McAlpine lab is highly multidisciplinary and incorporates innovative tools and approaches at the interface of immunology, cardiology, and neuroscience to study the fundamental impact neuro-immune interactions and brain-body communication in heart and brain diseases.

We are an inclusive research team located in the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

We are also active members of many other institutes and centers at ISMMS, including the Friedman Brain Institute, the Loeb Center for Alzheimer’s Disease, and the Brain and Body Research Center.