Setty Magaña's Biography

Setty Magaña, Assistant Professor of Neurology & Pediatrics, Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University

Setty M. Magaña, MD, PhD, is an attending physician-scientist and co-director of the Neuroimmunology Program at Nationwide Children’s and tenure-track assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Neurology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Magaña is founder and co-director of the NCH-OSU Extracellular Vesicle Research Seminar Series. Her clinical and research interests are in understanding the disease mechanisms in pediatric and adult acquired demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis. The overarching goal of Dr. Magaña’s Pediatric Translational Neuroimmunology research program is to study the age-span of multifactorial, pediatric-onset, CNS neuroimmune disorders by exploring the theranostic utility of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their bioactive cargoes in disease risk and progression. The most common pediatric acquired demyelinating disease (ADS) of the CNS is multiple sclerosis (MS), however there are over 10 multiphasic and monophasic ADS with overlapping clinical features but vastly divergent prognoses and treatment approaches. The clinical overlap is confounded by the lack of disease-specific biomarkers for early diagnostic and therapeutic distinction. The Magaña Lab’s mission is to be at the forefront of innovative translational neuroimmunology research by focusing on three main aspects of multiple sclerosis research: i) elucidating pathomechanisms at the earliest phases of disease initiation, ii) developing novel human-based, pre-clinical models, iii) identifying therapeutic candidates for precision nanomedicine. The ultimate goal of our research program is to be amongst the first in the field of multiple sclerosis to utilize precision medicine in order to identify subjects at risk of developing MS in the preclinical phase and to tailor preemptive treatments that prevent MS from developing. Dr. Magaña completed her doctorate in Clinical and Translational Sciences at Mayo Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, her pediatric residency and child neurology residency at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and a Neuroimmunology and Neuroinfectious Diseases fellowship at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She serves on the International Pediatric MS Study Group, Acute Flaccid Myelitis Working Group and the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles CSF Task Force.