Rate My Professor Elodie Kip

Dr. Elodie Kip serves as an Assistant Research Fellow and Lab Manager in the Department of Physiology within the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Otago. She earned her Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences from the University of Namur between 2005 and 2009, followed by a Master of Biomedical Sciences specializing in oncology and immunology from the University of Liège from 2009 to 2011. Kip completed her PhD at Ghent University from 2013 to 2018, focusing on the pathogenesis of neurotropic viruses and neuroinflammation during her time at Sciensano in Belgium. After her doctoral studies, she relocated to New Zealand and joined the University of Otago as an Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Anatomy, working in the Parr-Brownlie lab. There, her research centered on Parkinson's disease, investigating alternative therapies such as optogenetics to alleviate motor symptoms like forelimb akinesia in rat models, as well as the gut-brain axis and neuroinflammation's role in disease progression.

Currently, in the Campbell Lab at the Centre for Neuroendocrinology, Kip explores the interplay between hormones, brain function, and reproduction, with a particular emphasis on polycystic ovary syndrome. Her research interests include neurological disorders, neuroinflammation, neuroendocrinology, and healthy aging. She emphasizes the benefits of healthy lifestyle choices, mindfulness, and stress reduction in mitigating neuroinflammation and preventing neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Key publications include Kip and Parr-Brownlie (2023), 'Healthy lifestyles and wellbeing reduce neuroinflammation and prevent neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders' in Frontiers in Neuroscience; Kip et al. (2022), 'Patterned stimulation of the Chrimson opsin in glutamatergic motor thalamus neurons improves forelimb akinesia in parkinsonian rats' in Neuroscience; and Kip and Parr-Brownlie (2022), 'Reducing neuroinflammation via therapeutic compounds and lifestyle to prevent or delay progression of Parkinson's disease' in Ageing Research Reviews. Earlier works address rabies virus-induced neuroinflammation, such as 'Inhibition of MALT1 Decreases Neuroinflammation and Pathogenicity of Virulent Rabies Virus in Mice' (2018). Kip has also presented on the gut-brain axis in neurological diseases.