DR. KELLY MONK
Kelly Monk is a senior scientist and co-director of the Vollum Institute. After earning her B.S. in Biochemistry from Elmira College in 2001, she pursued doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati under the mentorship of Nancy Ratner and was awarded her Ph.D. in Cell Biology in 2006. She completed postdoctoral training in the lab of William Talbot at Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2011, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Developmental Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016. Monk joined the Vollum Institute in 2017 and was named Director of the Vollum/OHSU Neuroscience Graduate Program in 2018. Dr. Monk's research focuses on understanding how myelin — the insulating sheath that surrounds nerve fibers — is formed, maintained, and repaired in the nervous system. Her laboratory studies the interactions between glial cells and neurons that allow myelin to develop properly and support efficient nerve signaling. Using zebrafish and mouse models, her team investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate myelination and remyelination, with the goal of advancing understanding of neurological diseases and injuries in which myelin is damaged.