معرفی
Christina M Zelano is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology (Epilepsy/Clinical Neurophysiology) at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. She leads the Northwestern Human Olfaction Lab and holds affiliations with the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) and the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health.
Her research focuses on the neural mechanisms of olfaction, respiratory-brain interactions, and their implications for neurodegenerative diseases. Key areas include:
- How nasal breathing modulates hippocampal oscillations during sleep
- Anatomical connections between olfactory bulb and amygdala subregions
- Neural basis of odor perception differences
- Impact of anosmia on brain health
Recent publications (2024-2025) reveal groundbreaking findings about breathing-synchronized brain waves enhancing memory consolidation and olfactory-amygdala communication pathways. Her work employs invasive stereo EEG, fMRI, DTI, surface EEG, and computational analysis in epilepsy patients and healthy subjects.
Awards:
- AChemS Young Investigator Award for Research in Olfaction (2020)
Dr. Zelano's lab develops novel brain recording tools to investigate smell perception and its role as a window into brain health. Her research has significant implications for understanding Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions through olfactory dysfunction biomarkers.
