معرفی
Elena Gracheva is a Professor of Cellular & Molecular Physiology and Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine, with joint appointments in both departments. Her research focuses on somatosensation and thermoregulation, particularly exploring molecular and evolutionary mechanisms underlying hibernation and cold tolerance in mammals. She holds significant awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) and the Blavatnik National Award Finalist distinction.
Education: PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2007) and postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco (2012). Her lab investigates hibernation's physiological mechanisms, including how hibernators survive extreme cold and prolonged water deprivation. Recent work highlights neural adaptations enabling survival without water and the role of hypothalamic hormones in anorexia during hibernation.
Key research areas include touch detection mechanisms (e.g., Pacinian corpuscle function) and thermoregulatory adaptations. Her articles span 2025 to 2020, emphasizing hibernation's neural and cellular basis, touch sensation, and molecular pathways. Awards include the Rita Allen Scholar and Beckman Foundation Fellow recognitions.
Gracheva’s lab, 'The Elena Lab,' collaborates widely, with studies published in *Science*, *Nature Communications*, and *Current Biology*. Future work aims to translate hibernation insights into human applications like induced hypothermia and cold tolerance therapies.