Linda Van Eldik, PhD

Linda J. Van Eldik is director of the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Van Eldik holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Calvin College and completed her doctorate in microbiology and immunology at Duke University, which is where she became interested in neuroscience. Her research primarily focuses on inflammation, which normally fights off infection and injury to protect the body, but in the case of acute injuries or chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s, can produce detrimental effects.

After a postdoctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York, Van Eldik served on the faculty of Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University before joining UK in 2010. In addition to her research and administrative work, she has also been a mentor to students and has worked with more than 27 postdoctoral scientists and seven predoctoral trainees.