Elizabeth Engler-Chiurazzi, PhD
Sex differences in peripheral immune system impacts on brain aging and response to psychosocial stress
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The overarching goal of Dr. Engler-Chiurazzi’s laboratory is to explore how the nervous and immune systems converge to impact brain function, mental health, and age-related neurological disease. Given the importance of biological sex in immune function and susceptibility to mood and brain aging-related disorders her lab is particularly interested in exploring sex-based research questions in these systems. Current efforts are focused on exploring the how B lymphocytes modulate the response to psychosocial stress in rodent models. A separate multi-investigator collaborative project aims to explore how increased infection burden across the lifespan may accelerate the trajectory of brain and cognitive aging. Finally, the Engler-Chiurazzi team is currently leveraging a powerful new animal model to explore how a single inflammatory microRNA, miR-34a, influences the development of dementia