Dr Sokoya obtained her undergraduate degree and PhD from James Cook University, Townsville. She then moved to the United States where she undertook postdoctoral research training at Baylor College of Medicine in the area of cerebrovascular regulation in health and disease. After spending 13 years in the US, Elke returned to Australia where she established the Cerebrovascular Research Laboratory. Over the next 10 years, her research focussed on understanding the mechanisms contributing to endothelial dysfunction in the brain and was aimed towards developing therapeutic strategies to improve cerebrovascular health. A standout finding was that disruption of the gut microbiota led to pronounced cerebral endothelial dysfunction. During this time, Elke played a key role in undergraduate teaching of medical science, cardiovascular physiology and histology and was the course coordinator of the Bachelor of Medical Science degree between 2016 and 2018.

Her own family’s health challenges in 2019, led to an acute awareness of the epidemic of chronic disease and an understanding that health can be restored when the underlying cause of disease is targeted. This was the impetus of changing her research direction and establishing the Chronic Disease Research Laboratory. The goal of her research team is to identify the root cause of chronic disease and to test clinical therapies and interventions that support patient health and recovery.