Dr. Eric Krause Appointed as Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Investigator at Georgia State University

ATLANTA— Eric Krause has been appointed as a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Distinguished Investigator at Georgia State University. Krause is an internationally renowned scientist that studies how the brain and peripheral nervous system coordinate behavioral and physiological responses to stress. He recently joined Georgia State as a professor in the Neuroscience Institute and core member of the Center for Neuroinflammation and Cardiometabolic Diseases (CNCD).

“We are privileged to have Dr. Krause as part of our research program here at the University,” said Tim Denning, Vice President of Research and Economic Development. “His work at the intersection of mental and physical health and stress response is deeply valuable, and this research has the potential to impact many, many lives for the better.”

Krause’s research program investigates neural circuits and molecular mechanisms that orchestrate the behavioral, neuroendocrine and autonomic limbs of the stress response. The goal of this research is to understand and alleviate stress-related diseases, like anxiety, depression, hypertension and obesity. The importance of this work is underscored by the high prevalence of these diseases in the U.S. population, particularly in underrepresented minorities with disparate access to health care in our local communities.

GRA Distinguished Investigators are recruited to Georgia’s research universities to advance exploration in fields of strategic interest to the state. The program provides seed funding and guidance to help university researchers move promising discoveries to the marketplace.

“Dr. Krause’s exploration into the complexities of how the human body responds to stress is highly regarded in the field,” says GRA President and CEO Susan Shows. “He will be an excellent addition to the collaborative members of the GRA Academy who pursue new answers to many different challenges of neuroscience. We’re very fortunate to have him in Georgia.”

Krause will play a fundamental role in the recently established CNCD, whose mission is to promote interdisciplinary research in the area of neuroinflammation, with the ultimate goal of improving scientific understanding of neuroinflammation-associated diseases, and the translation of these findings into better diagnosis and treatments. As a member of the CNCD, Krause will be part of an interdisciplinary group of faculty, students and postdoctoral fellows that work collectively to understand pathophysiology and identify novel therapeutic targets.

Krause is also strongly committed to industry engagement. His laboratory recently discovered an intriguing population of neurons that specifically relay mechanosensation of the stomach and heart to the brain, and that activating these neurons led to chronic reductions in body weight and blood pressure. This led to an academic and industry partnership with Novo Nordisk, a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company that pursues drug targets with potential for relieving cardiometabolic diseases. Although still in the early stages, this partnership has the potential to lead to further collaborations, significant intellectual property, and ultimately, the development of novel therapeutics for obesity and high blood pressure.

“Dr. Krause’s expertise, commitment to equity and diversity, and dedication to training and mentoring the next generation of scientists will add significant value to our institution as a whole”, said Javier Stern, director of the CNCD and Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience. “His research focus on unraveling how the nervous system orchestrates physiology and behavior under conditions of health and disease has led to the discovery of specific connections within the nervous system that can be targeted to relieve affective disorders and cardiometabolic disease. His conceptual and technical approaches will complement and expand the current expertise and research portfolio within the CNCD.”

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Krause to the ranks of our faculty,” said Daniel N. Cox, director of the Neuroscience Institute and the university-wide Brains & Behavior area of focus.  “His innovative research program exploring the molecular- and circuit-bases of the stress response across organ systems in both health and disease significantly extends our resident research expertise and is highly synergistic with our core strengths in behavioral, cellular, molecular, and systems neuroscience. Furthermore, his record of excellence in teaching and mentoring will significantly advance our dual missions of research and training for the next generation of neuroscientists.”

Krause was previously the Director of the Center for Integrative Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease and a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacodynamics at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He has received awards from a variety of scientific organizations including: The Alan N. Epstein Research Award from the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior and the American Physiological Society’s CNS New Investigator Award. Currently, he serves as on the Editorial Board of three top-tier biomedical journals and he is a standing member of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Mentored Transition to Independence (MTI) study section. He is also a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, the American Physiological Society, the Obesity Society, and the Endocrine Society. His research program has been supported by multiple NIH grants, including a prestigious Emerging Investigator Award (EIA: R35), which is given to researchers that have demonstrated the ability to make major contributions to their areas of study. Krause has also been recognized for his excellence in teaching and mentorship with the University of Florida’s Excellence Award for Assistant Professors and The Debbie DeSantis Excellence Endowed Professorship.

The Georgia Research Alliance is a public-private partnership that supports the recruitment of outstanding scientists to Georgia universities, stimulating new discoveries and economic growth since 1990.

For more information about Georgia State University research and its impact, visit research.gsu.edu.