MizzouForward Keynote:

Taking the STING out of obesity: building a healthier brain

April 12th | 3:00pm – 4:00pm  

Acuff Auditorium (MA217) – School of Medicine

Join us for “Taking the STING out of obesity: building a healthier brain " a keynote presentation by Dr. Sarah Elzinga, School of Medicine – PM&R, Neurology, MizzouForward faculty candidate.  Dr. Elzinga will present on her research for approximately 40-minutes with a 20-minute question and answer session to follow.

Dr. Sarah Elzinga is a Postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurology at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor whose research focus is inflammatory mechanisms of metabolically driven nervous systems damage and cognitive impairment.  She completed her BS degree in Equine Science at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Indiana, and her MS degree in Animal Science from Michigan State University.  She earned her Ph.D. in Veterinary Science from the University of Kentucky.

As the population ages, rates of cognitive impairment, including dementias such as Alzheimer's Disease, are increasing. Obesity and metabolic dysfunction, including the metabolic syndrome, prediabetes, and diabetes, all increase the risk of cognitive impairment as patients age. Inflammatory mechanisms, particularly innate inflammatory mechanisms, represent a possible mechanistic 'bridge' that might underlie this risk. However, these inflammatory mechanisms remain poorly understood.

The double-stranded DNA sensing cGAS/STING pathway represents a druggable target that could yield meaningful clinical outcomes in patients with obesity and/or metabolic dysfunction. Their early work exploring the role of cGAS/STING (and other) inflammatory mechanisms points to a dysregulation of this pathway in models of obesity and prediabetes. This dysregulation is concurrent with cognitive impairment that mimics what is observed in the clinic. Their data are also providing them with novel models that will be invaluable for understanding the underlying inflammatory mechanisms that contribute to cognitive impairment brought on by obesity and metabolic dysfunction.

You can access Dr. Elzinga’s CV via OneDrive here:

 S.Elzinga_CV_2022.pdf (University log in required to access)

After the keynote, please provide candidate feedback with our brief survey.