- Regents Professor and Interim Department Head, Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Medicine
My research interests lie at the intersection of neuroendocrinology, neuroinflammation and aging. For the last 10 years, my work has focused on ischemic stroke, specifically, to understand how the aging brain copes with stroke. In North America, stroke risk increases with age and in this aging demographic, women are more likely to sustain a stroke and more likely to have long term disability, poor quality of life and have more neuropsychiatric problems after stroke such as depression and cognitive impairment. This problem is compounded by the fact that few stroke therapies are available. Most stroke neuroprotectants have not been successfully translated from the bench to bedside. Using preclinical models, we have focused on acute pathological changes at the blood brain barrier and central and peripheral inflammation as well as long-term consequences, such as changes to reward pathways and post-stroke depression and dementia. I am also interested in developing novel stroke therapies for stroke in this population and our studies on epigenetic modifications such as histone methylation and non-coding (mi)RNA due to aging/stroke have provided several candidate molecules. Our recent work focuses on the role of the gut microbiome and gut metabolites on stroke recovery, and its potential for understanding the pathophysiology of stroke.
Related to my research goals, I am actively interested in promoting the inclusion of sex as a biological variable and attention to sex differences in medicine. Through medical and graduate coursework, research seminars and community talks, I am a vocal advocate for recognizing sex and gender differences in disease processes and drug therapies. I founded the Women's Health in Neuroscience program at Texas A&M University College of Medicine to create a community of researchers and foster collaboration on gender medicine and women's health, and to train new scholars in this area.
- Columbia University - (New York, New York, United States), Postdoctoral Training 1995
- Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Rochester - (Rochester, New York, United States) 1990
Academic Articles78
- Branyan, T. E., Selvamani, A., Park, M. J., Korula, K. E., Kosel, K. F., Srinivasan, R., & Sohrabji, F. (2021). Functional Assessment of Stroke-Induced Regulation of miR-20a-3p and Its Role as a Neuroprotectant. Translational Stroke Research. 1-17.
- El-Hakim, Y., Mani, K. K., Eldouh, A., Pandey, S., Grimaldo, M. T., Dabney, A., Pilla, R., & Sohrabji, F. (2021). Sex differences in stroke outcome correspond to rapid and severe changes in gut permeability in adult Sprague-Dawley rats.. Biol Sex Differ. 12(1), 14.
- Branyan, T. E., & Sohrabji, F. (2020). Sex differences in stroke co-morbidities.. Exp Neurol. 332, 113384-113384.
- Stewart, C. E., & Sohrabji, F. (2020). Gonadal hormones and stroke risk: PCOS as a case study.. Front Neuroendocrinol. 58, 100853-100853.
- Vemuganti, R., & Sohrabji, F. (2019). Age and sex differences in post-ischemic outcome and therapy.. Neurochem Int. 127, 104472-104472.
Chapters5
- Sohrabji, F., & Hurn, P. D. (2017). Risk Factors. Primer on Cerebrovascular Diseases. 167-170. Elsevier.
- Sohrabji, F., Welsh, C. J., & Reddy, D. S. (2016). Sex Differences in Neurological Diseases. Sex Differences in the Central Nervous System. 297-323. Elsevier.
- Sohrabji, F. (2016). The Impact of Aging on Ischemic Stroke. Advances in Geroscience. 161-196. Springer International Publishing.
- Sohrabji, F. (2015). Cerebrovascular Stroke. Estrogen Effects on Traumatic Brain Injury. 125-141. Elsevier.
- Miranda, R. C., & Sohrabji, F. (1996). Chapter 2. Gonadal Steroid Receptors: Possible Roles in the Etiology and Therapy of Cognitive and Neurological Disorders. Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry. Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry. 11-20. Elsevier.
Conference Papers1
- Park, M. J., & Sohrabji, F. (2016). The histone deacetylase inhibitor, sodium butyrate, exhibits neuroprotective effects for ischemic stroke in middle-aged female rats.. J Neuroinflammation. 13(1), 300-338.
Principal Investigator4
- Epigenetics of the Aging Astrocyte: Implications for Stroke awarded by DHHS-NIH-National Institute On Aging 2018 - 2023
- Epigenetics of the Aging Astrocyte: Implications for Stroke awarded by DHHS-NIH-National Institute On Aging 2012 - 2017
Co-Principal Investigator2
Investigator3
- Estrogens, Ovarian Aging and Calcium Channel Modulation awarded by DHHS-NIH-National Institute On Aging 2012 - 2017
- BICH491 Hnr-research Instructor
- BICH491 Research Instructor
- BIOT685 Directed Studies Instructor
- BIOT685 Directed Studies: In-ab Instructor
- MEID607 Medical Gross Anatomy Instructor