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Sonntag Lab

William E. Sonntag, PhD
Professor

Exploring how aging and hormones impact the brain to tackle cognitive decline and age-related diseases.

Lab focus

Dr. Sonntag’s research is focused on the cellular and molecular origins of age-related cognitive impairment and their interaction with disease. He has published seminal studies indicating that circulating hormones contribute to age-related cognitive deficits and established the vascula astrocytic and neuronal mechanisms for their effects. He developed the techniques for advanc cognitive testing of aged animals that led to the use of cognitive heterogeneity as a tool to investigate mechanisms of brain aging. In addition, he was the first to demonstrate the role of cerebrovascul rarefaction and decreased blood flow in cognitive dysfunction with age and the first to demonstra role for circulating growth factors (growth hormone and IGF-1) in brain aging. Currently, he and his colleagues are investigating the role of immune cell mediators and the inflammatory response in t development of cognitive impairment.

Why it matters

One of the greatest challenges within our society is how to prevent, treat and potentially cure diseases associated with age. This includes Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease, stroke and other related conditions that result in neurodegeneration. These diseases do not occur in isolation but interact closely with the cellular and molecular events that occur during aging. In fact, the vast majority of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular dysfunction, stroke, and neurological diseases occur during later life. The economic burden of these diseases to society as a whole, our nation, families, caregivers and individuals is profound. Nevertheless, there are no effective treatments. The goal of the Dr. Sonntag’s research and the Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging is to provide a transformational approach to understanding and treating these complex age-related diseases by discovering novel mechanisms that form the basis for increased disease risk with age

Faculty Bio

William E. Sonntag, PhD

Geroscience College of Medicine
Department of Biochemistry & Physiology
Professor and Chair
Director of Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging

Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Founding Director, Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, George Lynn Cross Professor of Research and Donald W. Reynolds Chair of Aging Research. Dr. Sonntag graduated from Tufts University with a BS in Psychology and Chemistry and completed his PhD at Tulane University in Physiological Psychology. After a post-doctoral fellowship at Michigan State University in Molecular Neuroendocrinology, Dr. Sonntag held several faculty positions and leadership roles in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forest University before accepting the position as Founding Director of the Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Dr. Sonntag has been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health and has been a member of numerous NIH study sections.

Honors, Recognition, Awards

  • George Lynn Cross Professor of Research, OUHSC
  • Director, Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging  
  • James W Fisher Distinguished Lectureship, Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University
  • Editor-in-Chief, GeroScience (Official Journal of the American Aging Association) - renamed journal from AGE to Geroscience and drastically improved impact score
  • Senior Scholar in Aging Award, Ellison Medical Foundation
  • Member, NIH CMAD Study Section  
  • Chair (Elected) Basic Science Section, Gerontological Society of America
  • Basic Science Director, Sticht Center on Aging, Wake Forest University School of Medicine  
  • Basic Science Director, Roena Kulynych Center for Memory and Cognition, Wake
  • Member, Molecular Endocrinology Study Section, National Institutes of Health  
  • Reviewer, Multiple NIH Special Emphasis Panels

Publications

Cognitive heterogeneity reveals molecular signatures of age-related impairment. Logan S, Baier MP, Owen DB, Peasari J, Jones KL, Ranjit R, Yarbrough HP, Masingale AM, Bhandari S, Rice HC, Kinter MT, Sonntag WE. PNAS Nexus. 2023 Mar 27;2(4):pgad101. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad101. eCollection 2023 Apr. PMID: 37091543

Progressive cognitive impairment after recovery from neuroinvasive and non-neuroinvasive Listeria monocytogenes infection. Cassidy BR, Logan S, Farley JA, Owen DB, Sonntag WE, Drevets DA. Front Immunol. 2023 Apr 18;14:1146690. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1146690. eCollection 2023. PMID: 37143648

Neuroinvasive Listeria monocytogenes infection triggers accumulation of brain CD8+ tissue-resident memory T cells in a miR-155-dependent fashion. Cassidy BR, Zhang M, Sonntag WE, Drevets DA. J Neuroinflammation. 2020 Sep 2;17(1):259. doi: 10.1186/s12974-020-01929-8. PMID: 328786

Simultaneous assessment of cognitive function, circadian rhythm, and spontaneous activity in aging mice. Logan S, Owen D, Chen S, Chen WJ, Ungvari Z, Farley J, Csiszar A, Sharpe A, Loos M, Koopmans B, Richardson A, Sonntag WE. Geroscience. 2018 Apr;40(2):123-137. doi: 10.1007/s11357-018-0019-x. Epub 2018 Apr 24. PMID: 29687240

GF-1 has sexually dimorphic, pleiotropic, and time-dependent effects on healthspan, pathology, and lifespan. Ashpole NM, Logan S, Yabluchanskiy A, Mitschelen MC, Yan H, Farley JA, Hodges EL, Ungvari Z, Csiszar A, Chen S, Georgescu C, Hubbard GB, Ikeno Y, Sonntag WE. Geroscience. 2017 Apr;39(2):129-145. doi: 10.1007/s11357-017-9971-0. Epub 2017 Apr 13. PMID: 28409331

Current Funding

P20 GM125528
Sonntag, William E., PhD (Program Director)
Cellular and Molecular Geroscience Center of Biological Research Excellence (CoBRE)
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

P30AG050911
Hart, Veronica Galvan, PhD (PD)
Sonntag, William E. (Co-Leader, Development Core)
Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Biology of Aging
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

T32 AG052363
Sonntag William E (PD)
Geroscience Training Program in Oklahoma
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

R01AG057424
Richardson, Arlan | Sonntag, William E. (Multi-PI)
Testing the ability of novel assays of resilience to predict lifespan
1. Current Funding
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Contact Information

Phone: (405) 821-8627

Email: william-sonntag@ouhsc.edu

Mailing address:
Department of Biochemistry & Moleuclar Biology
840 Stanton L Young Blvd.,
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Office location: BMSB 860