Christopher Power, MD FRCPC

Area of Study / Keywords

Nervous system HIV multiple sclerosis inflammation neurovirology neuroimmunology cell death microbiome inflammasome

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About

My research program combines my expertise as a clinician with my laboratory’s research to yield new disease markers and treatments for persons with brain disorders involving neuroinflammation, particularly multiple sclerosis (MS) and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). Neuroinflammation is a key aspect of many neurological diseases that  driven by specific cells and molecules in the brain, contributing to neurotrauma, Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. 

My research group works at the interface between clinical and laboratory research for which we have developed patient cohorts with associated biobanks of tissue samples and databases that we can investigate using cutting-edge technologies in my laboratory. We have established a “circle of research” that comprises clinical and laboratory research with reciprocal interactions between my Multiple sclerosis (MS) and HIV clinics and my laboratory, which are also infused with new ideas, technologies and trainees during information flow between the laboratory and clinics. Additionally, my group interacts with a broad range of collaborators globally and across Canada. 

The outputs from my research program include: (1) discovering the fundamental causes and triggering mechanisms involved in neuroinflammation in humans. (2) Development of indicators (biomarkers) of MS and HAND. (3) Inventing therapies for diseases in which neuroinflammation is an essential and causative factor, thereby improving the lives of my patients affected by these diseases together with training the next generation of biomedical scientists in Canada.     

Internationally recognized clinician-scientist Dr. Chris Power trained in internal medicine, neurology and neurovirology. In addition to his appointments within the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta, he is an adjunct professor in the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Calgary. 

Leadership and Collaborations:

Dr. Power is the founding director of the University of Alberta Multiple Sclerosis Centre. He is Vice Dean for Research in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. He collaborates with laboratories in Canada and around the world. 

Clinical Interests

Dr. Power cares for patients at the University of Alberta Hospital’s HIV and MS clinics as well as the Southern Alberta Clinic.

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Research

My research program is driven by an overarching goal: to uncover the mechanisms that underlie neurological infectious and immune disorders, with the ultimate aim of improving outcomes for those affected. We focus on three major neuroinflammatory conditions: HIV-associated neurological disorders, progressive multiple sclerosis (P-MS), and, more recently, neurological post-COVID-19 condition (PCC or ‘Long COVID’). To achieve this, we integrate high-quality clinical and experimental research, leveraging disease models such as transgenic mice, in vivo lentiviral infections (HIV, SIV, FIV), and primary human neural cells, alongside unique clinical and population cohorts with extensive bioarchives that my team has established.

From the outset of my career, I have sought to advance understanding where knowledge was sparse. As a trainee, I led studies that first reported HTLV-1 infection in Canada and its neurological impacts (Power et al., 1989, 1990), revealed how blood-brain barrier disruption and HIV-1 genetic diversity drive neuroinflammation and degeneration in NeuroHIV (Power et al., 1993, 1994), and developed the HIV Dementia Scale, now used worldwide (Power et al., 1995).

Our discoveries have continued to shape the field. We identified the human endogenous retroviral protein Syncytin-1 as a driver of ER stress, inflammation, and demyelination in P-MS (Antony et al., 2004, 2007), and were first to link cytokine/chemokine networks, ER stress, and inflammasome activation to neuroinflammatory outcomes (Deslauriers et al., 2011). We demonstrated that neurosteroid depletion mediated by microRNAs contributes to P-MS pathology, leading to repurposing of an antiepileptic drug as a potential therapy (Noorbakhsh et al., 2011; Paul et al., 2014). Furthermore, our group revealed that microbial molecules translocate into the brain in P-MS and NeuroHIV, fuelling neuroinflammation (Branton et al., 2013, 2016, 2022).

In NeuroHIV, we were the first to show that central NLRP3 inflammasome activation drives neurodegeneration (Walsh et al., 2014), and that intranasal insulin treatment can suppress inflammasome activity, preventing neuronal loss (Mamik et al., 2016). More recently, we demonstrated gasdermin E-mediated pyroptotic neuronal death in NeuroHIV (Fernandes et al., 2024). Our MS research revealed that inflammasome activation and pyroptosis drive demyelination (McKenzie et al., 2018), while converging pyroptotic and apoptotic pathways result in microglial death (McKenzie et al., 2020; Pollock et al., 2023).

Our translational focus has also led to discovery of a neurovirulent human pegivirus strain causing treatable viral encephalitis (Balcom et al., 2018; Doan et al., 2021; Hlavay et al., 2023), and, gasdermin B-mediated pyroptotic death in monkeypox virus-infected neural cells (Miranzadeh et al., 2024). Most recently, we reported a fundamental molecular mechanism underpinning signs and symptoms of Long COVID with immediate translational applications (Ogando et al, 2025).

Our work has been published in leading journals including Nature Neuroscience, Journal of Experimental Medicine, PNAS, New England Journal of Medicine, and The Lancet, as well as Journal of Immunology, Journal of Neuroscience, Retrovirology, FASEB Journal, Annals of Neurology, Neurology, and Brain. These publications reflect the broad impact of our discoveries.

Crucially, every senior-authored paper from my group includes contributions from our >75 trainees, who have gone on to successful careers in academia, industry, and government worldwide.

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Teaching

Dr. Power teaches in undergraduate and graduate courses (Neuro 210, 411) as well as medical students ( headache, stroke and seizures) and residents (neurological infections).

Keystone Symposium Banff. 2022 April;

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National Institute of Mental Health Seminar. 2022 February;

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Wang Q, Steinberg N, Zaidi A, Shrivastava G, Dhami K, Daskhan GC, Schmidt EN, Dworsky-Fried Z, Giuliani F, Churchward M, Power C, Todd K, Taylor A, Macauley MS, Sipione S

Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2022 January; 10.1186/s12974-021-02374-x

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Mohammadzadeh N, Roda W, Branton WG, Clain J, Rabezanahary H, Zghidi-Abouzid O, Gelman BB, Angel JB, Cohen EA, Gill MJ, Li M, Estaquier J, Power C*

mBio. 2021 December; 10.1128/mBio.02784-21

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Internation Society for NeuroVirology. 2021 October;

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Doan MAL, Roczkowsky A, Smith M, Blevins G, van Landeghem FKH, Gelman BB, Branton WG, Stapleton JT, Hobman TC, Power C*

JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY. 2021 September; 10.1128/JVI.01074-21

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Balcom E, Nath A, Power C

BRAIN. 2021 August; 10.1093/brain/awab302

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Alluqmani M, Roda W, Qqrmli M, Blevins G, Giuliani F, Power C

BMC Neurology. 2021 July; 10.1186/s12883-021-02317-2

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Bakal J.A., Charlton C.L., Hlavay B., Jansen G.H., Svenson L.W., Power C.

JOURNAL OF NEUROVIROLOGY. 2021 June; 27 (3):476-481 10.1007/s13365-021-00983-z

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Aparicio JM, Xu Y, Li Y, Colantuoni C, Dastgheyb R, Williams DW, Asahchop EL, McMillian JM, Power C, Fujiwara E, Gill MJ, Rubin LH.

AIDS. 2021 June; 10.1097/QAD.0000000000002966

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ISNV meeting 2021. 2021 June;

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CAHR meeting 2021 (abstract/poster). 2021 May;

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Wei Tu, Erika Johnson, Esther Fujiwara, M John Gill, Linglong Kong, Christopher Power

AIDS. 2021 May; 10.1097/QAD.0000000000002955

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Cheng C., Gomez D., McCombe J.A., Smyth P., Giuliani F., Blevins G., Baker G.B., Power C.

NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES. 2021 April; 10.1007/s10072-021-05203-4

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Budd A.S., Krentz H.B., Rubin L.H., Power C., Gill M.J., Fujiwara E.

AIDS. 2021 April; 35 (5):801-809 10.1097/QAD.0000000000002798

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Roda W.C., Liu S., Power C., Li M.Y.

BULLETIN OF MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY. 2021 March; 83 (4) 10.1007/s11538-021-00875-7

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Rourke S.B., Bekele T., Rachlis A., Kovacs C., Brunetta J., Gill M.J., Carvalhal A., Cysique L.A., Marcotte T., Power C.

AIDS. 2021 January; 35 (1):63-72 10.1097/QAD.0000000000002709

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Yubolphan R., Phuagkhaopong S., Sangpairoj K., Sibmooh N., Power C., Vivithanaporn P.

Metallomics. 2021 January; 13 (1) 10.1093/mtomcs/mfaa006

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Saito L.B., Fernandes J.P., Smith M.J., Doan M.A.L., Branton W.G., Schmitt L.M., Wuest M., Monaco M.C., Major E.O., Wuest F., Power C.

GLIA. 2021 January; 69 (1):216-229 10.1002/glia.23896

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Su T., Wang Y., Liu Y., Branton W.G., Asahchop E., Power C., Jiang B., Kong L., Tang N.

Entropy. 2020 November; 22 (11):1-34 10.3390/e22111257

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