In The News

Published on January 22nd, 2024 in The Lancet Neurology

Rhonda Voskuhl; basketball and bedside to bench to bedside.

“You learn a lot about yourself when you are striving to be good at something. And I learned at an early age that it’s great to strive for goals, but in the end, it is about your internal sense of achievement”. Rhonda Voskuhl is Professor of Neurology and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She also holds the Jack H Skirball Chair in Multiple Sclerosis and is the neurologist for the UCLA Comprehensive Menopause Care Program. She has achieved national and international acclaim for ground-breaking research in neuroprotective treatments for neurological disability, with a focus on the role of sex hormones and sex chromosomes. Clearly, Voskuhl is a star player in her field; with numerous prestigious awards, international recognition, and more than two decades of continuous research funding, her “internal sense of achievement” has been validated.

Published January 16th, 2024 in DDN

A Recipe for Remyelination

Molecules that promote restoration of the neuron’s myelin sheath could offer a reparative therapy for multiple sclerosis.

In a groundbreaking exploration led by Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, PearlPAK inventor and a leading neurologist at UCLA, estriol, a hormone peaking in the third trimester of pregnancy, has emerged as a promising treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Inspired by the protective effect of pregnancy against MS, Dr. Voskuhl’s team demonstrated estriol’s anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects through clinical trials and recent mouse model studies. Their findings suggest estriol’s potential in inducing remyelination, offering hope for innovative neuroprotective treatments in MS.

September 28, 2023, Published on eurekalert.org

Menopausal hormone changes linked to cognitive deficits

A new study led by UCLA neurologist Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl sheds light on the underlying mechanisms linking menopause to cognitive deficits and brain atrophy, revealing a crucial role for estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) in astrocytes. The study, conducted on female mice, identified the specific brain regions and mechanisms responsible for the cognitive changes experienced during menopause.

September 18, 2023, Published on rachelhorneprize.com & ECTRIMS

Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, inventor of PearlPAK™ by CleopatraRX, named winner of the Rachel Horne Prize for Women’s Research in MS.

In a groundbreaking recognition of her remarkable contributions to multiple sclerosis (MS) research, Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, a distinguished neurologist and researcher at the Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been awarded the inaugural Rachel Horne Prize for Women’s Research in MS.

Published July 13th, 2023 in Axios Science

Investigating the XY Factor in Disease

Doctors and scientists have long recognized certain diseases affect men and women differently, yet the dosage and design of drugs remain the same.

In this newest article with contributing information from PearlPAK inventor and UCLA neuroscientist Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, learn how scientists are beginning to understand how sex chromosomes and hormones affect people’s risk for certain diseases – and whether the biology behind those differences can be harnessed to improve treatments.

May 1, 2023, Published in UCLA Newsroom

Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl receives grant to discover neuroprotective treatments for MS

Last week it was announced that Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl’s extensive research career in neuroscience has resulted in a $7.3 million Research Program Award from the National Institute of Health.