Dr. Troy Lund is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and Associate Director of the Leukodystrophy Center at the University of Minnesota, the largest transplant center for boys with cerebral ALD.
He is a recognized expert in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and gene therapy and has provided clinical care to boys with ALD from around the world.
Dr. Lund is deeply committed to advancing safer and more effective treatments for cerebral ALD. He leads multiple active research efforts aimed at improving outcomes for boys at every stage of disease through an integrated bench-to-bedside approach that spans both clinical care and laboratory investigation. A longstanding focus of his work is biomarker discovery. His current research seeks to identify predictive biomarkers that emerge before changes appear on MRI, with the goal of determining which patients are most at risk for developing cerebral ALD.
In addition, Dr. Lund is investigating the mechanisms underlying transplant efficacy, with a particular emphasis on peroxisome transfer. He is also exploring innovative strategies to enhance brain engraftment following allogeneic BMT or gene therapy, a critical step in which infused cells must cross the blood-brain barrier to halt disease progression. His team is leading efforts to develop therapies that may improve this process and increase overall treatment effectiveness.
Dr. Lund is also pursuing non-transplant treatment approaches for cerebral ALD. This work focuses on therapies designed to reduce neuroinflammation and potentially diminish or eliminate gadolinium enhancement on MRI, offering the possibility of disease control without the need for transplant.
Main Area of Research: Cell therapy, gene therapy, triggers of disease, biomarkers, variants of uncertain significance, peroxisome biology