Ilia Karatsoreos, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Sleep and Performance Research Center, Washington State University
AREAS OF ACADEMIC & RESEARCH INTEREST
- Sleep and circadian rhythms
- Metabolic syndrome, obesity, and diabetes
- Neurobehavioral effects of stress
- Neural plasticity and cognitive function
Circadian (daily) rhythms are evolutionarily ancient, present in almost all organisms and regulate nearly every biological process. In our modern industrialized society, we have altered the relationship between our circadian rhythms and the day-night cycle. In many cases we are active long into the night and sleep during the day. In extreme cases, such as shift-workers and trans-meridian air travellers (e.g. jet-lag), overriding circadian rhythms can be more than just a nuisance. Chronically, this can lead to heath problems, including development of metabolic syndrome, increased risk of heart disease, higher incidences of certain types of cancer, disrupted immune responses, and increased risk of suffering from a major depressive syndrome.
Dr. Karatsoreos’ current research focuses on the relationship between circadian rhythms, sleep, and mental and physical health. It highlights how circadian rhythms modulate physiology and behaviour, as well as how disrupting them can produce physiological and behavioural abnormalities that change an organism’s susceptibility to further environmental or psychological stress. It is hoped these models will provide an understanding of how dysregulation of the body’s timing and metabolic systems interact to produce changes in behaviour and physiology, and will potentially lead to new clinical interventions to alleviate some of the physical and mental health consequences of our modern lifestyles.
"Scientific research is like exploration, and as explorers we have a duty to share what we discover with society as a whole. An important reason for this open communication is to translate scientific findings into evidence based interventions and countermeasures to improve the health and wellbeing of the wider public."
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
MEMBERSHIPS & SOCIETIES
Society for Neuroscience
Sleep Research Society
Society for Research on Biological Rhythms
Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Karatsoreos, I.N., Bhagat, S., Bloss, E.B., Morrison, J.H. and McEwen, B.S. (2011). Disruption of circadian clocks has ramifications for metabolism, brain and behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 108(4),1657-1662.
- Karatsoreos, I.N. and McEwen, B.S. (2011). Psychobiological allostasis: resistance, resilience and vulnerability. Trends in Cognitive Science, 15(12), 576-584.
- Karatsoreos, I.N., Thaler, J.P., Borgland, S.L., Champagne, F.A., Hurd, Y.L. and Hill, M.N. (2013). Food for thought: hormonal, experiential and neural influences on feeding and obesity. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(45), 1710-1716.
- Kinlein, S.A., Wilson, C.D. and Karatsoreos, I.N. (2015). Dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function contributes to altered endocrine and neurobehavioral responses to acute stress. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 6, 31.
- Phillips, D.J., Savenkova, M.I. and Karatsoreos, I.N. (2015). Environmental disruption of the circadian clock leads to altered sleep and immune responses in mouse. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 47, 14-23.
