Anshu Agrawal, PhD

Dr. Anshu Agrawal is one of 11 WAM Research Grant 2019 Recipients. Dr. Agrawal is using her funding to continue work in understanding the connection between inflammation and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Her study investigated the role of IL-21, a product of inflammatory cells, which is observed to be elevated in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Dr. Agrawal found that significantly more IL-21 was found in females with MCI and AD, compared to females with normal cognition and males. The higher levels may implicate IL-21 in early Alzheimer’s development and blood measures of the factor may prove to be a biomarker for early Alzheimer’s disease in females.

 

More about Dr. Anshu Agrawal

Dr. Agrawal is a Professor in the Division of Basic and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine and is a member of Institute of Immunology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. She did her Ph.D. from India and subsequently worked as a Research Scientist at a United Nations organization -International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), India. In recognition for her efforts there, she won a scholarship to work in Paris, France. Subsequently, she focused her research in the area of innate immunity and dendritic cells and did another postdoc at Emory Vaccine center to hone her skills. At UCI, she continued to do research in innate immunity specifically as it relates to aging and associated diseases. This includes immune changes that lead to Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis for which she has received funding from NIH and UCI women against Alzheimer’s (UCI WAM) grant from Maria Shriver foundation.

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