Contact Details
- Phone
- +64 21 497 621
- elodie.kip@otago.ac.nz
University Links
- Position
- Assistant Research Fellow
- Department
- Department of Anatomy
- Research summary
- Neuroinflammation, optogenetics and Parkinson’s disease
Research
I obtained my Master’s degree in Oncology and Immunology at the University of Liege in Belgium. After traveling and working in Australia for a year, I underwent Ph.D. studies at the University of Ghent in Belgium on neurotropic virus pathogenesis and neuroinflammation. After obtaining my Ph.D., I went working in other areas than Science in Canada and New Zealand. For the past years, I have been working at the University of Otago under the supervision of Louise Parr-Brownlie. I was integrating my experience working with viruses and the brain and expanding my knowledge in Neurosciences by undertaking optogenetic stimulation experiments to find an alternative treatment for Parkinson's disease. Because of my personal believes, studies in inflammation, life and work experiences I am also interested in the impact of well-being and a healthy lifestyle on inflammation and diseases that are associated with inflammation, such as Parkinson’s disease. The focus of my current research is on preventing neuroinflammation via lifestyle and therapeutic compounds to slow down Parkinson’s disease.
Additional details
Major techniques
- Virus production
- Functional and genomic virus titration
- Flow cytometry for immune cells in the brain
- Seroneutralisation test for measure of neutralizing antibodies in the blood
- qRT-PCR
- Immunohistochemistry
- ELISA
- Cell culture
- Breeding of transgenic mice and genotyping
- Rodent stereotaxic surgery
- Viral vectors
- Optogenetic experiments
- Behaviour experiments in rats
Publications
Kip, E., & Parr-Brownlie, L. (2023). Healthy lifestyles and wellbeing reduce neuroinflammation and prevent neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders [Review]. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17, 1092537. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1092537 Journal - Research Article
Kip, E., Bentall, L., Underwood, C. F., Hughes, S. M., & Parr-Brownlie, L. C. (2022). Patterned stimulation of the Chrimson opsin in glutamatergic motor thalamus neurons improves forelimb akinesia in parkinsonian rats. Neuroscience, 507, 64-78. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.10.026 Journal - Research Article
Kip, E., Bentall, L., Underwood, C. F., Hughes, S. M., & Parr-Brownlie, L. C. (2022). Patterned simulation of the chrimson opsin in glutamatergic motor thalamus neurons improves forelimb akinesia in a chronic rat model of Parkinson's disease. In K. Horne (Ed.), Proceedings of the 38th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research (AWCBR). (pp. 85). Retrieved from https://www.queenstownresearchweek.org Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Kip, E. C., & Parr-Brownlie, L. C. (2022). Reducing neuroinflammation via therapeutic compounds and lifestyle to prevent or delay progression of Parkinson's disease. Ageing Research Reviews, 78, 101618. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2022.101618 Journal - Research Article
Kip, E., Bentall, L., Underwood, C. F., Hughes, S. M., & Parr-Brownlie, L. C. (2021). Specific patterns of optogenetic stimulation of glutamatergic motor thalamus neurons improve akinesia in a chronic rat model of Parkinson's disease. New Zealand Medical Journal, 134(1539), (pp. 88). Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract