Yelena Grinberg

Ph.D. Candidate in Neurobiology

Yelena Grinberg graduated with a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Psychology, with a minor in Chemistry in 2007 from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, under the mentorship of Dr. Donna Korol.  In the Korol lab, Yelena studied neural plasticity with an emphasis on estradiol and memory.  Following graduation, Yelena worked as a technician in Dr. Duncan Ferguson’s laboratory in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois, focusing on thyroid hormone physiology, pharmacology and toxicology.  Yelena joined the Kraig laboratory in 2009, where she studies the role of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in neuronal activity-dependent neuroprotection and reduction of spreading depression susceptibility.  Yelena’s research interests include the role of peripheral signaling factors in mechanisms of cognitive decline from aging and disease as well as neurovascular coupling.

Memberships

Society for Neuroscience                                                                    American Heart Association

Honors & Awards

Pritzker Fellowship in the Neurosciences 2009 – 2010

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Shi L, Lin S, Grinberg Y, Beck Y, Grozinger CM, Robinson GE, Lee T (2007) Roles of Drosophila Kruppel-homolog 1 in neuronal morphogenesis. Dev Neurobiol. 2007 67:1614-26.

Grinberg YY, Milton JG, Kraig RP (2011) Spreading depression sends microglia on Lévy flights. PLoS One. 6:e19294.

Pusic AD, Grinberg YY, Mitchell HM, Kraig RP (2011) Modeling neural immune signaling of episodic and chronic migraine using spreading depression in vitro. J Vis Exp. doi: 10.3791/2910.

Cipolla M, Pusic AD, Grinberg YY, Chapman A, Poynter ME, Kraig RP (2012) Pregnant Serum Induces Neuroinflammation and Seizure Activity via TNF-alpha. Experimental Neurology 234: 398-404.

Grinberg YY, van Drongelen W, Kraig RP (2012) Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Lowers Spreading Depression Susceptibility and Reduces Oxidative Stress. J Neurochem [in press]

Meeting Abstracts

Grinberg YY, Milton JG, Kraig RP (2010) Microglial cells search via Lévy flights, with increased run lengths after TNF-α or reduced neuronal activity. Soc. Neurosci. 36. Prog #346.1

Grinberg YY, Kraig RP (2011) Insulin-like growth factor-1 (and insulin) mitigates spreading depression susceptibility: Implications for migraine therapy. Soc. Neurosci. 37. Prog #875.07