Associate Professor of Neurology
Director of Waddell Center
Medical Education: Comenius University School of Medicine, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1987-1993
Residency Training: Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Boston, MA, 1994-1997
Fellowship Training: Neuroimmunology fellowship at NIH/NINDS - Neuroimmunology Branch, Bethesda MD, 1997-2000
Board Certification: Neurology
Clinical Interests: Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis and research of neuroinflammatory disorders.
Research Interests: Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis and research of neuroinflammatory disorders.
Selected Publications:
Please click
here
for the National Library of Medicine's link to Dr. Bielekova's publications.
Bielekova, B., Lincoln, A., McFarland, H. and Martin, R. Therapeutic Potential of Phosphodiesterase-4 and –3 Inhibitors in Th1-Mediated Autoimmune Diseases. Journal of Immunology 2000; Jan 15, 164(2): 1117-1124
Holz, A., Bielekova, B., Martin, R., and Oldstone, M.: Myelin-Associated Oligodendrocytic Basic Protein: Identification of an Encephalitogenic Epitope and Association with Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Immunology 2000; Jan 15, 164(2): 1103-1109
Muraro, P., Pette, M., Bielekova, B., McFarland, H. and Martin, R.: Human Autoreactive T cells from Naive CD45RA+ and Memory CD45RO+ Subsets Differ with Respect to Epitope Specificity and Functional Antigen Avidity. Journal of Immunology 2000; May 15, 164:5474-5481
Martin, R., Bielekova, B., Gran, B., McFarland, H.: Lessons from studies of antigen-specific T cell responses in multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neural Transmission 2000: Nov; S361-374
Bielekova, B., Goodwin, B., Richert, N., Cortese, I., Kondo, T., Afshar, G., Gran, B., Eaton, J., Antel, J., Frank, J., McFarland, H. and Martin, R.: Encephalitogenic Potential of Myelin Basic Protein Peptide (83-99) in Multiple Sclerosis – Results of a phase II clinical trial with an altered peptide ligand. Nature Medicine 2000: Oct; 6(10): 1167-1175
Muraro, P., Leist, T., Bielekova, B., and McFarland, H.: VLA-4 /CD49d downregulated on primed T lymphocytes during interferon-b therapy in multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neuroimmunology 2000: Nov; 111: 186-194
Gran, B., Tranquill, L., Chen, M., Bielekova, B., Zhou, W., Dhib-Jalbut, S. and Martin, R.: Mechanisms of Immunomodulation by Glatiramer acetate. Neurology 2000: Dec 1; 55:1704-1714
Martin, R., Gran, B., Zhao, Y., Markovic-Plese, S., Bielekova, B., Marques, A., Sung, M.H., Hemmer, B., Simon, R., McFarland, H. and Pinilla, C.: Molecular mimicry and antigen-specific T cell responses in Multiple Sclerosis and chronic CNS lyme disease. Journal of Autoimmunity 2001: May; 16(3): 187-192
Wandinger, K., Stuerzebecher, S., Bielekova, B., Detore, G., Rosenwald, A., Staudt, L., McFarland, H. and Martin, R.: Complex immunomodulatory effects of Interferon-b in multiple sclerosis include the upregulation of T helper 1-associated marker genes. Annals of Neurology 2001: September; 50: 349-357
Bielekova, B. and Martin, R.: Antigen-specific immunomodulation via altered peptide ligands. Journal of Molecular Medicine 2001: 79: 552-565
Muraro, P., Wandinger, K., Bielekova, B., Gran. B., Marquez, A., Utz, U., McFarland, H., Jacobson, S. and Martin, M.: T cell receptor clonotype tracking links the expansion of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell clones to disease activity in neurological immune-mediated disorders. Brain 2003: 126:20-31
Marcovic-Plese, S., Bielekova, B., Kadom, N., Leist, T., Martin, R. Frank, J. A. and McFarland, H.: The effects of Azathioprine in MS patients refractory to interferon b-1b. Longitudinal MRI study. Neurology 2003: 60:1849-1851
Bomprezzi, R., Ringner, M., Kim, S., Bittner, M., Khan, J., Chen, Y., Elkahloun, A., Yu, A., Bielekova, B., Meltzer, P., Martin, R., McFarland, H. and Trent, J.: Gene Expression Profile in Multiple Sclerosis Patients and Healthy Controls: Identifying Pathways Relevant to Disease. Human Molecular Genetics 2003: 12:17: 2191-2199
Bielekova, B., Sung, M-H., Kadon, N., Simon, R., McFarland, H. and Martin, R.: Expansion and Functional Relevance of High-Avidity Myelin Specific T Cells in Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Immunology 2004: 172: 3893-3904
Bielekova, B. and Martin, R.: Development of biomarkers in MS. In press: Brain
Bielekova, B., Howard, T., Blevins, G., Richert, N., Markovic-Plese, S., Scrivner-Reichert, S., Wurfel, J., Waldmann, T. A., McFarland, H. and Martin, R.: Humanized Anti-CD25 (Daclizumab) Inhibits Disease Activity in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Failing to Respond to Interferon-beta. In press: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA