Veronica Galvan, Ph.D.

Dr. Galvan is Professor and Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair of Aging Research in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC).  Dr. Galvan serves as Director of the NIA P30 Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center and also serves as co-Director of the Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging at OUHS.  Dr. Galvan is also Research Career Scientist at the US Department of Veterans Affairs Oklahoma City Health Care System. 

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Dr. Galvan’s research focuses on the molecular and biochemical processes of aging that lead to dementia in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurological disorders of aging.  She has generated models of Alzheimer's and used them to identify novel mechanisms of neurodegeneration.  Dr. Galvan also pioneered the study of mechanisms that link brain aging to the pathogenesis of AD and other dementias. Her laboratory identified the mammalian-target of rapamycin (mTOR) as a central driver of disease in surrogate models of AD and vascular cognitive impairment, providing the first evidence for a role of a molecular mediator of aging in the etiology of AD and related dementias. Dr. Galvan’s laboratory also provided the first description of pathogenic forms of tau in brain microvasculature of Alzheimer's and other tauopathies.  A major current focus in the lab is to define the impact of pathogenic tau transmission to astrocytes and brain vascular endothelial cells, including the mechanisms that activate cellular senescence in both cell types as a result of transmission of pathogenic tau.  Another major focus is on the impact of pathogenic tau transmission to GABAergic interneurons associated with brain vasculature that have a critical role in the regulation of neurovascular coupling. 

 

Postdoctoral trainees, predoctoral students, MD/PhD students and undergraduate students interested in pursuing research in the Galvan Lab should contact Dr. Galvan at veronica-galvanhart@ouhsc.edu.  

Twitter: ​ @Galvan_Lab

e-mail:  veronica-galvanhart@ouhsc.edu