Brandi Reeves, MD was awarded a Core Facilities voucher to characterize neurobehavioral changes in a mouse model of polycythemia vera.
Neurobehavioral complaints are common in patients with polycythemia vera (PV), with 75% of patients reporting symptoms. Fatigue, inactivity, and concentration difficulties are the most common and severe symptoms experienced by PV patients and result in significant reductions in productivity and quality of life. Anxiety and depression are also common, affecting nearly 60% of patients. Current PV treatments are largely ineffective at improving these symptoms. We aim to determine whether a mouse model of PV recapitulates these neurobehavioral features of human disease by subjecting PV mice to a battery of neurobehavioral tests with the assistance of the Mouse Neurobehavioral Immunophenotyping Core led by Sheryl Moy, PhD.