Dr Elke Sokoya

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 function following traumatic brain injury. After 13 years overseas, Elke returned to Australia where she established the Cerebrovascular Research Laboratory at Flinders University. Over the next 10 years, her research was aimed towards developing therapeutic strategies to improve cerebrovascular health. A key discovery from these animal studies was that disrupting the gut microbiota results in significant dysfunction of the cerebral endothelium, adding to the body of work exploring the communication pathways between the gut and the brain vasculature. 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 have 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(s) of chronic disease and to test clinical therapies and interventions that support patient health and recovery.

Lab website: https://elkesokoya.wixsite.com/cdrlab