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Monica M. Oblinger, Ph.D. Professor
Molecular Biology of Neuronal Injury and Regeneration
Dr. Oblinger received a B.A. in Psychobiology from Oberlin College in l976 and her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Purdue University in l981. She was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University in the Dept. of Developmental Genetics and Anatomy from l981 until l984. In l984 she joined the faculty at the Chicago Medical School. She is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Neuroscience Research and Metabolic Brain Disease, and a member of the medical advisory board of the Schweppe Foundation. She is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the American Neurochemistry Society and currently serves as the Secretary for the Chicago Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. She has served on several study sections of the National Institutes of Health, including service as a regular member of NLS-1 and MDCN-1 sections. She has held research grants from the National Institute of Health, the Spinal Cord Research Foundation and the American Paralysis Association. She is the graduate program director for the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy.
Dr. Oblinger's research is focused on understanding the role of gonadal steroid hormones such as estrogen and androgen in protecting neurons during aging as well as after injury or insult. The distribution and regulation of specific steroid receptors, such estrogen receptor alpha and beta, in the nervous system are of interest. The effects of estrogen and androgen, working through specific receptors, on neuronal cell survival after challenges, on axonal sprouting after damage, and on functional properties of both peripheral and central neurons are being evaluated. Because steroid hormones have been shown to have neuroprotective as well as accelerative effects on regeneration, we are also interested in studying the long term effects of estrogen receptor active drugs widely used in breast cancer treatment, such as tamoxifen, on neurons. Several model systems, including primary sensory or motor neurons and PC12 cells that have been genetically modified to express specific hormone receptors are being used in the laboratory.
Monica M. Oblinger, Ph.D. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy The Chicago Medical School 3333 Green Bay Road North Chicago, Illinois 60064
Email: monica.oblinger@rosalindfranklin.edu Phone: (847) 578-3440 Fax: (847) 578-3253