Joe Wider, PhD

Joseph Wider, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Wider received his B.S. in Physiology from Michigan State University in 2008 and his PhD from Wayne State University School of Medicine in 2017. After earning his terminal degree, Dr. Wider was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association and trained in the Emergency Medicine Department at the University of Michigan. During his postdoctoral training, Dr. Wider was involved in multiple projects and collaborations and developed an independent research program investigating neurotrauma. 

Dr. Wider was appointed to his faculty position in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Michigan in 2021. He serves as a member of the Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation, The Concussion Center at the University of Michigan and the American Heart Association, the Society for Neuroscience, and the Michigan Chapter of the American Physiology Society and serves as Associate Editor for Life Sciences. He is involved with teaching through laboratory mentorship and has trained students at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral level.

Research in the Wider lab is focused on understanding brain injury caused by ischemia-reperfusion and trauma. Ongoing studies are investigating the molecular mechanisms of injury to use this knowledge for developing technology through preclinical and translational science. Mitochondrial dysfunction is recognized as an effector that is common to acute brain injury, however the mechanisms that drive cell damage are unclear. They use cutting edge techniques to investigate how mitochondrial dysfunction occurs and how it contributes to neurological disease. Using mechanistic evidence, the Wider lab also uses both preclinical and clinically relevant translational models to develop hypothesis-based technology to treat brain injury. With support from internal funding mechanisms and the Department of Defense, the Wider lab is currently developing a novel therapeutic technology for treating traumatic brain injury in translational studies and regulatory testing for human devices.