How diabetes and obesity-related inflammation promote nervous system injury
Dr. Elzinga’s goal is to understand how immune system pathways respond to damage at the cellular level and promote injury of the nervous system. She is using multiple models to examine this injury and understand how it might promote cognitive impairment. These models are also increasing our understanding of how the different cell types in the nervous system interact. Already, they have begun to uncover the underlying mechanisms of injury and present possible treatment options for brain and cognitive impairment secondary to diabetes and obesity.
Credentials
- BS, Equine Science, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, 2005
- MS, Animal Science, Michigan State University, 2011
- PhD, Veterinary Science/Immunology & Endocrinology, University of Kentucky, 2017
Honors & Awards
- NIH K99/R00 Pathways to Independence Award
- Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s Early Career Investigator Mentorship Program
- T32 trainee, University of Michigan National Institutes of Health Multidisciplinary Postdoctoral Training Program in Basic Diabetes Research and Endocrinology Fellowship Training Program
- Biointerface Institute Challenge Grant
- Young Investigator Award, American Quarter Horse Association Foundation
- External review committee member, Gluck Center for Equine Research
Top Publications
Elzinga, Sarah E., et al. “cGAS/STING and innate brain inflammation following acute high-fat diet feeding.” Frontiers in Immunology (2022), https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1012594.
Elzinga, Sarah E.*, et al. “Obesity-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in adult vs aged mice.” Immunity and Ageing, accepted for publication. *co-first authorship
Elzinga, Sarah E.*, et al. “Glial-neuron crosstalk in health and disease: A focus on metabolism, obesity, and cognitive impairment.” Neurobiology of Disease (2022): 105766. *co-first authorship
Kim B., Elzinga S.*, et al. “The effects of insulin and insulin-like growth factor I on amyloid precursor protein phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo models of Alzheimer's disease” Neurobiology of disease 132 (2019):104541.
*co-first authorship
Elzinga, Sarah E.*, et al. "Sex differences in insulin resistance but not peripheral neuropathy in a diet-induced prediabetes mouse model." Disease models & mechanisms 14.4 (2021).
*co-first authorship
Dr. Elzinga News
New Study Links A High Fat Diet to Neurologic Disease
Michigan Medicine's Health Lab blog covered research led by Edith Briskin Emerging Scholar Sarah Elzinga, Ph.D., that support a specific immune pathway as a bridge between diet & neurologic disease. These findings were published in Frontiers in Immunology .
Sarah Elzinga, PhD, Receives NIH Pathway to Independence Award
The Edith Briskin Emerging Scholar shares the research the award will fund—inflammation as a potential link between cognitive decline and metabolic dysfunction—and her experiences under the mentorship of Dr. Eva Feldman.
Dr. Sarah Elzinga Presents at the 6th Annual Beyond Amyloid Research Symposium
Watch the Edith Briskin Emerging Scholar and a host of other exciting speakers as the Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center's annual symposium was back in person.
Announcing the Edith Briskin Emerging Scholar
Edith Briskin has established an emerging scholarship and introduced Sarah Elzinga, Ph.D., as the inaugural Edith Briskin Emerging Scholar at the NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies.
Kim & Elzinga Find New Connection Between Obesity & Insulin-resistance to Alzheimer’s Disease
Drs. Kim and Elzinga report that proteins in the brain known to promote Alzheimer’s disease are significantly increased in response to eating a high fat diet and becoming obese.
Press: DMM First Person with Sarah Elzinga, PhD
Disease Models & Mechanisms selected Sarah Elzinga for a special Q&A about her recently published paper about the sex differences in insulin resistance, but not peripheral neuropathy in diet-induced prediabetes animal models