Zebrafish Regenerate After SCI - Dr. Sam Wattrus

Zebrafish Regenerate After SCI - Dr. Sam Wattrus

From Spinal Cast by MCPF

March 13, 2026 · 47 min · Season 1 · Episode 42

About this episode

Dr. Sam Wattrus discusses his research on zebrafish spinal cord regeneration and the role of immune cells in this process.

In this LIVE episode of Spinal Cast Peter Morton, Host and Dr. Sam Wattrus sit down to discuss Sam’s research funded by MCPF. They explore why organisms like zebrafish can regenerate their spinal cords while humans cannot. His work focuses on how immune cells called macrophages interact with injured spinal cord tissue and how the signaling molecule Calreticulin may help recruit these cells to the injury site. Dr. Wattrus also shares what other work he finds exciting in the research space. Fascinating stuff! Dr. Wattrus is a Junior Fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology (Wattrus Lab) at Massachusetts General Hospital. He received his undergraduate and PhD degree from Harvard. He is also a member of Forbes 30 Under 30 in science (2024). Special thanks to Dr. Wattrus for being our guest! This production is a collaborative effort of volunteers working to create a quality audio and visual experience around the subject of spinal cory injury research. Thanks to David Stevens for provided technical and editing support. Most important – THANK YOU for being part of the Spinal Cast audience! Interested in watching these episodes?! Check out our YouTube playlist…

People in this episode

Host: Peter Morton

Guest: Dr. Sam Wattrus

Topics covered

  • spinal cord injury
  • zebrafish regeneration
  • macrophages
  • Calreticulin
  • research
  • science

Keywords

  • spinal cord injury
  • zebrafish
  • regeneration
  • macrophages
  • Calreticulin
  • research
  • MCPF

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MCPF, Massachusetts General Hospital, Forbes

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