TEACHING & LEARNING THROUGH RESEARCH
Despite her demure presence, Elinor Sullivan is an emerging rock star in the world of physiology research. She is currently the holder of two faculty positions (Assistant Professor at UP and Adjunct Assistant Scientist in the Department of Neuroscience at the Oregon Primary Research Center), in addition to holding two concurrent grants: most recently a $45,322 research award from the competitive Murdock Life Sciences Research Program.
Elinor’s research examines the impact of maternal obesity and high fat diet consumption on the physiology and behavior of the developing offspring. To date, using a nonhuman primate model, she and her research partners have identified a number of physiological and behavioral processes that are dramatically changed with exposure to a perinatal high fat diet. Specifically they find that offspring from high fat diet consuming mothers are more prone to obesity and diabetes. They also note that that the development of many organ systems are directly impacted with high fat diet exposure including the brain, liver, pancreas, cardiovascular system and skeletal muscle. In addition to impacting organs, the development of several neurotransmitter systems (serotonergic, dopaminergic, elanocortinergic) are also impacted by perinatal high fat diet exposure, leading to impairments in many areas of behavior. Specifically, Elinor has noted increases in anxious, depressive, and aggressive behavior and a decrease in social interaction in offspring from high fat diet consuming mothers.
The implications of this work cannot be understated, given that one third of pregnant women in the U.S. are obese and that the majority consume foods high in dietary fat. It is critical to understand the impact that a diet high in fat and an obese or overweight metabolic state have on the developing child as well. Because her findings in nonhuman primates, were so striking, her research group has begun research in collaboration with the department of psychiatry at OHSU to examine whether maternal diet and body weight status in human mothers and children is associated with the risk for behavioral disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and autism.
Despite her impressive and far reaching research agenda, Elinor was drawn to UP because of an opportunity to blend teaching and research, something she observed first hand as an undergraduate at Willamette University. While her position at OHSU as a staff scientist was exciting, and she was successful in securing grant funding, she felt something was missing. To fill that void, Elinor started teaching part-time on weekends and evenings, which only served to reinforce her desire to teach at a small liberal arts school. The position at UP was exactly what she was looking for and she considers it her dream job.
Eager to begin, Elinor started her undergraduate research program the summer before her teaching position began, working with two students in the summer of 2011. She has since enjoyed a steady stream of students who knock on her door looking for research experience and has already mentored 7 students this past year. She notes, “the very favorite part of my position is mentoring undergraduate students in research. I love teaching about experimental design, allowing students to learn about the research area and develop their own questions and experiments.” Given her robust research agenda and strong undergraduate research program, she is well on her way to developing the next generation of scientists who want that “dream” job of conducting research and teaching at a small liberal arts school.