Pelin Cengiz
Position title: Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Email: cengiz@pediatrics.wisc.edu
Phone: Sex differences in developmental neuroprotection; Roles played by estrogen receptors and neuroestrogens in the hippocampus
Address:
Education
MD 1996 Marmara University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
Residency: Louisiana State University Medical Center - Shreveport, LA
Research Focus
Dr. Pelin Cengiz’s research focuses on finding a novel therapy for neonatal encephalopathy subsequent to hypoxic ischemic brain injury [hypoxia-ischemia (HI)]. She uses the experimental (Vannucci-Rice) mouse model of hypoxia ischemia (HI) to study the sexually differentiated role of estrogen receptor alpha and neurotrophin signaling in the neonatal hippocampus post-HI. The neurotrophin receptor, tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), plays an important role in neuroprotection and improving the long-term functional recovery following HI by increasing neuronal survival. She has shown that administration of 7,8 dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF; potent and selective TrkB agonist) increases TrkB phosphorylation and hippocampal neuronal survival following HI in female, but not in male newborn mice. Her recent studies have implicated estrogen receptor alpha in conferring this sex-specific neuroprotective mechanism. Her current studies focus on the cellular mechanisms of the role of estrogen receptor alpha following HI in developing brains.
Program Activities
- Joined ERP Program: 2020
Trainees
No past or current ERP student trainees