Dr. Elena Gross
Elena has background in Neuroscience (University of Oxford) and is currently finishing a PhD in clinical research at the University of Basel, Switzerland.
She is also a migraine patient and a keto enthusiast.
Frustrated by the available treatment options for migraines, her research career has focused on better understanding this common and debilitating disease, with the ultimate goal on improving clinical care.
Elena is particularly interested in the role of energy metabolism in migraine pathophysiology, as well as other neurological diseases. Her and her lab are currently conducting a randomised controlled clinical trial on the efficacy and safety of exogenous ketone bodies in migraine prevention, the first controlled trial on ketone body salts.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Psychology from University of York, UK (Distinction)
Master of Science in Neuroscience from University of Oxford, UK (Distinction)
PhD candidate in clinical research at University of Basel, Department of Neurology, Switzerland (including a short stay at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA)
Recent research
Clinical and basic research projects on: New approaches to migraine prevention (sport intervention and exogenous ketone bodies) and their potential mechanisms of action, including epigenic / genetic analyses
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03132233?term=migraket&rank=1
Research Fellowship at the University of Harvard Medical School with Prof Rami Burstein; focus on the role of inflammation in migraine, assessed with genetic and epigenetic analysis amongst others and shadowing at the headache clinic
MSc lab internship 2 (at University of Oxford): Development of an in vitro blood brain barrier model to examine the effect of migraine drugs (prophylactic topiramate) on a cellular (induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived) brain endothelial model of migraine, which will involve culturing iPSC, endothelial and neuronal cell lines, treating with drug or control, harvesting RNA, immunofluorescence and qPCR amongst others.
MSc lab internship 1 (at University of Oxford): Structural and functional neuroimaging in chronic migraine using a region of interest approach, including voxel-based morphometry (VBM), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), resting state BOLD functional connectivity, arterial spin labelling (ASL) at rest and spectroscopy (MRS) of the brainstem. Analysis were conducted with FSL.