Dr. Kassandra Elliott

Biography

Kassandra Kisler Elliott is an Assistant Professor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, where she also serves as the Assistant Director of the Optical Imaging Core at the Neurodegeneration Regeneration Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute. She received her PhD in applied physics from Cornell University, utilizing various microscopy and electrophysiology techniques to study cell biology. Her research interests primarily focus on understanding the contribution of microvascular dysfunction to dementia and developing therapeutic and preventative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Elliott is particularly dedicated to applying in vivo imaging techniques to study vascular dynamics within the neurovascular unit of the living brain in real time. The neurovascular unit, which consists of multiple cell types, works together to maintain the blood-brain barrier and regulate the supply of blood and nutrients to the brain. A major aspect of her research involves examining the critical relationship between the functionality of the neurovascular unit and the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as investigating the effects of Alzheimer’s disease risk genes using innovative techniques ranging from traditional approaches to next-generation transcriptomics.

Research Interests

Experience