Overview

Dr. Elkabes received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel where she was awarded the Feinberg Graduate School Award for Excellence. Dr. Elkabes pursued her post-doctoral training in Neurobiology at the NIH and Cornell University Medical College. She held a faculty appointment in the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, RWJMS-UMDNJ, before joining the faculty at NJMS, Rutgers.

Dr. Elkabes' research focuses on neuroprotection, neural regeneration, neuron-glia interactions, and mechanisms of neuropathic pain in animal models of spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis. Her research has been funded by the NIH and NJCSCR. Dr. Elkabes has been a reviewer in NIH and DOD study sections, The Israel Science Foundation; The Marsden Fund Council, New Zealand; The Medical Research Council, U.K. Dr. Elkabes has served as an ad-hoc reviewer in numerous scientific journals.

Dr. Elkabes is a full member of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) at Rutgers. She received the Golden Axon Award for excellence in neuroscience teaching at NJMS. She has served as an acting co-director, executive and admission committee member and first-year advisor in the NJMS-Rutgers joined Integrative Neuroscience Graduate Program. She is the director of The Reynolds Family Spine Laboratory in the Department of Neurological Surgery at NJMS.

Read her full bio here.

Education

PHD, 1985, Feinberg Graduate School of Weizmann Institute
M.S., 1980, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
B.S., 1977, Bosphorous University, Turkey

Languages

French
Hebrew
Italian
Spanish

Relevant Publications

Li L, Ni L, Eugenin EA, Heary RF, Elkabes S (2019) Toll-like Receptor 9 Antagonism Modulates Astrocyte Function and Preserves Proximal Axons following Spinal Cord Injury. Brain Behav Immun pii: S0889-1591(18)30530-0. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2019.04.010. [Epub ahead of print]

Khariv V, Acioglu C, Ni L, Li L, Tao YX, Heary RF, Elkabes S (2018) A link between plasma membrane calcium ATPase 2 (PMCA2), estrogen and estrogen receptor a signaling in mechanical pain. Sci Rep, 8: 17260

Pallottie A, Ratnayake A, Ni L, Acioglu C, Li L, Mirabelli E, Heary RF, Elkabes S (2018) A toll-like receptor 9 antagonist restores below-level glutamate transporter expression in the dorsal horn following spinal cord injury. Sci Rep, 8: 8723.

Khariv V, Ni L, Ratnayake A, Sampath S, Lutz BM, Tao X, Heary RF, Elkabes S (2017) Impaired sensitivity to pain stimuli in plasma membrane calcium ATPase 2 (PMCA2) heterozygous mice: a possible modality- and sex-specific role for PMCA2 in nociception. FASEB J, 31:224-237. [Epub Oct 4, 2016].

Acioglu C, Mirabelli E, Baykal AC, Li N, Ratnayake A, Heary RF, Elkabes S (2016) Toll like receptor 9 antagonism modulates spinal cord neuronal survival: direct and astrocyte-mediated mechanisms. Brain Behav Immun, 56:310-24. [Epub Apr 1, 2016].

David BT, Sampath, S, Dong W, Heiman A, Rella CE, Elkabes S, Heary RF (2014) A toll-like receptor 9 antagonist improves bladder function and white matter sparing in spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma, 31:1800-6. [Epub, Aug 25, 2014].

Khariv V, Pang, K, Servatius RJ, David BT, Goodus M, Beck KD, Heary RF, Elkabes S (2013) Toll-like receptor 9 deficiency impacts sensory and motor behaviors. Brain Behav Immun, 32:164-72. [Epub, Apr 24, 2013]

David BT, Ratnayake A, Amarante MA, Reddy NP, Dong W, Sampath S, Heary RF, Elkabes S (2013) A toll-like receptor 9 antagonist reduces pain hypersensitivity and the inflammatory response in spinal cord injury. Neurobiol Dis, 54:194-205. [Epub, Jan 8, 2013].

Kurnellas MP, Li H, Jain MR, Giraud SN, Nicot AB, Ratnayake A, Heary RF, Elkabes S. (2010) Reduced expression of plasma membrane calcium ATPase 2 and collapsin response mediator protein 1 promotes death of spinal cord neurons. Cell Death and Diff. 17(9):1501-10

Liu T, Donahue KC, Hu J, Kurnellas MP, Grant JE, Li H, Elkabes S. (2007) Identification of differentially expressed proteins in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) by proteomic analysis of the spinal cord. J Proteome Res., 6:2565-75. Epub 2007 Jun 16.

Areas Of Interest

Multiple Sclerosis

Neuroscience

Purkinje cell

ataxia

calcium pumps

cerebellum

demyelination

experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

glutamate

inflammation

microglia

neurodegeneration

neurotrophic factors

regeneration

spinal cord injury

toll-like receptors

Course List

NEURN5040

Neurobiology of Disease

Dr. Elkabes' research focuses on molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, neuroprotection and regeneration in central nervous system inflammation and injury. The cross talk between glia and neurons and the contribution of the innate and adaptive immune responses to neurorepair are studied by use of animal models of multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.