PUBLICATIONS 

First Author and Senior Author: Literature Review

1. Nathanael Matei, Justin Camara, John H. Zhang. The Next Step in the Treatment of Stroke. Frontiers in Neurology. 2021 Jan 22;11:582605 (eCollection 2020). PMID: 33551950. URL: https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2020.582605.

2. Richard Camara†, Nathanael Matei†, John H. Zhang. Evolution of the stroke paradigm: A review of delayed recanalization. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism. 2021 May;41(5):945–957. PMID: 33325765. URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678X20978861.

3. Nathanael Matei, Richard Camara, John H. Zhang. Emerging mechanisms and novel applications of hydrogen gas therapy. Medical Gas Research. 2018 Sep 25;8(3):98–102. PMID: 30319764. URL: https://doi.org/10.4103/2045-9912.239959.

4. Claudy Sarpong, Serena Bhaskerrao, Geraldine Kimberly Kra, Kyle Gabriel Bangayan, Kwesi Tuffour, Nathanael Matei. New insights into neurofilament and cytokine biomarkers: A narrative review. NeuroMarkers. 2026 Jun;3(2):100146 (published online 2025). URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neumar.2025.100146.

5. Takudzwa Gavaza, Nathanael Matei*. Perioperative Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Surgery: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Clinical Pathways. Medical Gas Research. 2026. https://doi.org/10.4103/

† Richard Camara and Nathanael Matei contributed equally and are co-first authors.

First and Senior Author: Manuscripts (Data based)

1. Nathanael Matei, Sophie Leahy, Norman P. Blair, James Burford, Mansour Rahimi, Mahnaz Shahidi. Prophylactic Effects of Creatine and Metformin after Incomplete Retinal Ischemia. Scientific Reports. Manuscript in revision, 2026.

2. Nathanael Matei, Sophie Leahy, Norman P. Blair, James Burford, Mansour Rahimi, Mahnaz Shahidi. Retinal Vascular Physiology Biomarkers in a 5XFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease. Cells. 2022. [Link]

3. Nathanael Matei, Sophie Leahy, Norman P. Blair, Mahnaz Shahidi. Assessment of retinal oxygen metabolism, visual function, thickness and degeneration markers after variable ischemia/reperfusion in rats. Experimental Eye Research. 2021. [Link]

4. Nathanael Matei, Justin Camara, Devin W. McBride, Richard Camara, Jiping Tang, John H. Zhang. Intranasal Wnt3a attenuates neuronal apoptosis through Frz1/PIWIL1a/FOXM1 pathway in MCAO rats. Journal of Neuroscience. 2018. [Link]

5. Nathanael Matei, Sophie Leahy, Selin Auvazian, Biju Thomas, Norman P. Blair, Mahnaz Shahidi. Relation of Retinal Oxygen Measures to Electrophysiology and Survival Indicators after Permanent, Incomplete Ischemia in Rats. Translational Stroke Research. 2020. [Link]

6. Mahnaz Shahidi, Amir Nankali, Anthony E. Felder, Mansour Rahimi, Sophie Leahy, Nathanael Matei. Alterations in retinal pulse wave velocity under experimental ocular hypertension. Microvascular Research. 2023. [Link]

7. Chao Pan†, Qi Li†, Nathanael Matei†, Zhouping Tang. Minimally invasive puncture and subsequent fibrinolytic therapy for hematoma evacuation: A case report. Brain Hemorrhages. 2021;2(3):124-126. [Link]

† Chao Pan, Qi Li, and Nathanael Matei contributed equally and are co-first authors.

Middle Authorship:

8. Norman P. Blair, Sophie Leahy, Nathanael Matei, Mahnaz Shahidi. Retinal Hypoxia: Relation to Blood Flow and Oxygen Metabolic Biomarkers. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2026. [Link]

9. Jing Yu, Jinlan Li, Nathanael Matei, et al. Intranasal administration of recombinant prosaposin attenuates neuronal apoptosis through GPR37/PI3K/Akt/ASK1 pathway in MCAO rats. Experimental Neurology. 2024. [Link]

10. Yan Zhang, Qiuyang Su, Guofeng Wu, Nathanael Matei, Shengling Zeng. Activation of PARP in secondary brain injury following intracerebral haemorrhage. Brain Hemorrhages. 2024. [Link]

11. Anthony E. Felder, Mansour Rahimi, Amir Nankali, Nathanael Matei, Farzan Abdolahi, Norman P. Blair, Mahnaz Shahidi. A retinal imaging system for combined measurement of optic nerve head vascular pulsation and stimulated vasodilation in humans. Scientific Reports. 2023. [Link]

12. Norman P. Blair, Nathanael Matei, Sophie Leahy, Mansour Rahimi, Mahnaz Shahidi. The accumulated oxygen deficit as an indicator of the ischemic retinal insult. Experimental Eye Research. 2023. [Link]

13. Mansour Rahimi, Sophie Leahy, Nathanael Matei, James Burford, Norman P. Blair, Mahnaz Shahidi. Impairments of retinal hemodynamics and oxygen metrics in ocular hypertension-induced ischemia-reperfusion. Experimental Eye Research. 2022. [Link]

14. Sophie Leahy, Nathanael Matei, Norman P. Blair, Mahnaz Shahidi. Retinal Oxygen Delivery and Metabolism Response to Hyperoxia During Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion in Rats. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2022. [Link]

15. Jinwei Pang, Nathanael Matei, Jianhua Peng, et al. Macrophage Infiltration Reduces Neurodegeneration and Improves Stroke Recovery after Delayed Recanalization in Rats. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2022. [Link]

16. Mansour Rahimi, Sophie Leahy, Nathanael Matei, Norman P. Blair, Shinwu Jeong, Cheryl Mae Craft, Mahnaz Shahidi. Assessment of inner retinal oxygen metrics and thickness in a mouse model of inherited retinal degeneration. Experimental Eye Research. 2021. [Link]

17. Hui Liang, Nathanael Matei, Devin W. McBride, Yang Xu, Zhenhua Zhou, Jiping Tang, Benyan Luo, John H. Zhang.TGR5 Activation Attenuates Neuroinflammation Via Pellino3 Inhibition of Caspase-8/NLRP3 after MCAO in Rats. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2021. [Link]

18. J. Jason McAnany, Nathanael Matei, Yi-Fan Chen, Karen Liu, Jason C. Park, Mahnaz Shahidi. Rod pathway and cone pathway retinal dysfunction in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Scientific Reports. 2021. [Link]

19. Zhenhua Zhou, Ningbo Xu, Nathanael Matei, Devin W. McBride, Yan Ding, Hui Liang, Jiping Tang, John H. Zhang.Sodium butyrate attenuated neuronal apoptosis via GPR41/Gβγ/PI3K/Akt pathway after MCAO in rats. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism. 2021. [Link]

20. Jing Peng, Min Wu, Desislava M. Doycheva, Yi He, Qiongzhen Huang, Wei Chen, Nathanael Matei, et al.Establishment of Carotid Artery Dissection and MRI Findings in a Swine Model. Frontiers in Neurology. 2021. [Link]

21. Zhiyi Xie, Budbazar Enkhjargal, Nathanael Matei, et al. Exendin-4 Preserves Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity via GLP-1R/AMPK/NF-κB/MMP-9 Inhibition After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Rat. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience. 2021. [Link]

22. Hui Liang, Nathanael Matei, Devin W. McBride, Yang Xu, Jiping Tang, Benyan Luo, John H. Zhang. Activation of TGR5 protects blood brain barrier via the BRCA1/Sirt1 pathway after middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats. Journal of Biomedical Science. 2020. [Link]

23. Norman P. Blair, Sophie Leahy, Nathanael Matei, Mahnaz Shahidi. Control of retinal blood flow levels by selected combinations of cervical arterial ligations in rat. Experimental Eye Research. 2020. [Link]

24. Jing Yu, Wenna Wang, Nathanael Matei, et al. Ezetimibe attenuates oxidative stress and neuroinflammation through inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasomes via the AMPK/Nrf2/TXNIP pathway in MCAO rats. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2020. [Link]

25. Wen Zheng, Nathanael Matei, Jinwei Pang, et al. Delayed recanalization at 3 days after permanent MCAO attenuates neuronal apoptosis through FGF21/FGFR1/PI3K/Caspase-3 pathway in rats. Experimental Neurology. 2019. [Link]

26. Tyler C. Hillman, Nathanael Matei, Jiping Tang, John H. Zhang. Developing a standardized system of exposure and intervention endpoints for isoflurane in preclinical stroke models. Medical Gas Research. 2019. [Link]

27. Richard Camara, Nathanael Matei, Justin Camara, Budbazar Enkhjargal, Jiping Tang, John H. Zhang. Hydrogen gas therapy improves survival rate and neurological deficits in subarachnoid hemorrhage rats: a pilot study. Medical Gas Research. 2019. [Link]

28. Jinwei Pang, Jianhua Peng, Nathanael Matei, et al. Apolipoprotein E exerts a whole-brain protective property by promoting M1 microglia quiescence after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage in mice. Translational Stroke Research. 2018. [Link]

29. Jing Yu, Xue Li, Nathanael Matei, et al. Ezetimibe, a NPC1L1 inhibitor, attenuates neuronal apoptosis through AMPK-dependent autophagy activation after MCAO in rats. Experimental Neurology. 2018. [Link]

30. Qin Hu, Anatol Manaenko, Nathanael Matei, et al. Hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning: a reliable option for neuroprotection. Medical Gas Research. 2016. [Link]

31. Peng Yang, Jiang Wu, Liyan Miao, Anatol Manaenko, Nathanael Matei, et al. Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor-β Regulates Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Transformation and Neuroinflammation After Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Mice. Critical Care Medicine. 2016. [Link]

32. Zhen-Ni Guo, Liang Xu, Qin Hu, Nathanael Matei, et al. Hyperbaric Oxygen Preconditioning Attenuates Hemorrhagic Transformation Through ROS/TXNIP/NLRP3 Pathway in Hyperglycemic MCAO Rats. Critical Care Medicine. 2016. [Link]

33. Devin W. McBride, Nathanael Matei, Justin R. Câmara, et al. Acute Hyperglycemia Does Not Affect Brain Swelling or Infarction Volume After Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Rats. Acta Neurochirurgica Supplement. 2016. [Link]

34. Sheng Chen, Yujie Chen, Liang Xu, Nathanael Matei, Jiping Tang, Hua Feng, John H. Zhang. Venous system in acute brain injury: Mechanisms of pathophysiological change and function. Experimental Neurology. 2015. [Link]

35.  Ravi Goyal, Jonathan Van Wickle, Dipali Goyal, Nathanael Matei, Lawrence D. Longo. Antenatal Maternal Long-Term Hypoxia: Acclimatization Responses with Altered Gene Expression in Ovine Fetal Carotid Arteries. PLOS ONE. 2013. [Link]

Abstracts

1. Nathanael Matei; James Burford; Sophie Leahy; Selin L. Auvazian; Biju Thomas; Norman P. Blair; Mahnaz Shahidi. The effect of reduced oxygen delivery and metabolism on electroretinogram b-wave in rats. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2019;60(9):6077. Link

2. Nathanael Matei; Sophie Leahy; Selin L. Auvazian; Norman P. Blair; Mahnaz Shahidi. Retinal Oxygen Metabolic, Anatomical, and Biochemical Changes in Experimental Carotid Artery Occlusion. Stroke. 2020;51(Suppl 1):WP165. Link

3. Nathanael Matei; Sophie Leahy; Norman P. Blair; Mahnaz Shahidi. Effects of Ischemia and Reperfusion on Retinal Oxygen Delivery, Metabolism, Extraction Fraction, and Function after Ophthalmic Vessel Occlusion in Rats. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2020;61(7):1748. Link

4. Sophie Leahy; Nathanael Matei; Norman P. Blair; Mahnaz Shahidi. Retinal Oxygen Metabolism and Delivery Response to Hyperoxia During Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion in Rats. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2020;61(7):181. Link

5. J. Jason McAnany; Nathanael Matei; Karen Liu; Jason C. Park; Mahnaz Shahidi. Inner-retina dysfunction in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease assessed by electroretinography. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2020;61(7):3992. Link

6. Nathanael Matei; Sophie Leahy; Norman P. Blair; James Burford; Mahnaz Shahidi. Retinal Vascular Physiology Biomarkers in a 5XFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2021;62(8):356. Link

7. Nathanael Matei; Mansour Rahimi; Sophie Leahy; James Burford; Norman P. Blair; Mahnaz Shahidi. Prophylactic Effects of Creatine and Metformin after Incomplete Retinal Ischemia. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2022;63(7):2966-F0207. Link

8. Mansour Rahimi; Sophie Leahy; Nathanael Matei; James Burford; Norman P. Blair; Mahnaz Shahidi. Alterations in retinal oxygen metrics, thickness, function, and ganglion cell counts after experimental ocular hypertension-induced ischemia/reperfusion injury. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2022;63(7):4422-F0101. Link

Skills

In-Vivo Models (Surgical Skills)

Stroke – Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in rats (intraluminal suture: permanent, transient, transient with hemorrhagic transformation, photothrombosis), Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in rats (endovascular perforation), Intracerebral Hemorrhage in mice and rats.

Neurofunctional Tests

Sensorimotor – Modified Garcia Neuroscore for Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Strokes, Composite Neuroscore for Cerebellar Hemorrhage, Beam Balance, Foot Fault, Rotorod, Corner Turn Test, Forelimb Placement Test, Cylinder Test, Adhesive Removal Test, Wire Hang Test

Cognitive – Water Maze, T-Maze/Y-Maze, Novel Object Recognition

Anxiety – Open Field, Elevated Plus Maze, Elevated Zero Maze, Forced Swim

Imaging Modalities (Standard and Video Imaging)

Microscopy – Bright field, Phase contrast, DIC, Dark field, Fluorescence/Confocal 

Engineering Software

Graphing, Statistical Analysis, and Data Fitting – SigmaPlot®, GraphPad®

Image Analysis –ImageJ

Laboratory Equipment and Skills

Membrane separations and filtration

Immunohistochemistry

Molecular Biology Techniques – Western blot, ELISA, PCR

Maintain and troubleshooting of laboratory equipment  

Ultrafiltration/diafiltration

pH samples and protein concentration assays