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Candice Van Skike, PhD

Instructor/Research

The goal of my research is to identify the mechanisms that contribute to cerebrovascular dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease and aging. Recent work in both humans and animal models have demonstrated that deficits in cerebral blood flow emerge prior to the onset of cognitive dysfunction, suggesting that altered cerebral blood flow may present an opportunity for early detection and intervention in a disease that currently has no cure. The research in the Galvan lab has identified that the mTOR pathway contributes to brain vascular dysfunction and cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease and aging; therefore inhibitors of the mTOR pathway may have potential as a therapeutic intervention.

I specialize in the use of in vivo techniques, including intravital two-photon microscopy and laser Doppler flowmetry, to measure cerebral blood flow, vasodilatory capacity, and blood-brain barrier integrity in mouse models of AD. Additionally, my research utilizes immunofluorescent confocal microscopy and cell culture to identify the mTOR-dependent mechanisms involved in cerebral blood flow dysfunction. I am also highly trained in rodent behavioral testing, including spatial learning and memory tasks, hippocampal dependent contextual memory, recognition memory, anxiety, and assays of motor function.

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  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 2013 - PhD - Behavioral Neuroscience/Psychology Minor: Statistics - Baylor University, Waco, Texas
    • 2011 - MA - Behavioral Neuroscience/Psychology - Baylor University, Waco, Texas
    • 2008 - BS - Psychology (cum laude) - Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri

    Training

    • 2019 - Postdoctoral Fellowship - Biology of Aging, Physiology - University of Texas Health San Antonio San Antonio, TX
    • 2015 - Postdoctoral Fellowship - Pharmacology/Behavioral Neuroscience - University of Kentucky Lexington, KY

  • Publications

      JOURNAL ARTICLES

      1. Van Skike CE, Lin AL, Roberts Burbank R, Halloran JJ, Hernandez SF, Cuvillier J, Soto VY, Hussong SA, Jahrling JB, Javors MA, Hart MJ, Fischer KE, Austad SN, Galvan V (2020). mTOR drives cerebrovascular, synaptic, and cognitive dysfunctions in normative aging. Aging Cell, 19 (1): e13057. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13057
      2. Van Skike CE, Goodlett C, Matthews DB (2019). Acute alcohol and cognition: Remembering what it causes us to forget. Alcohol, 79, 105-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2019.03.006
      3. Van Skike CE, Jahrling JB, Olson A, Sayre N, Hussong SA, Ungvari Z, Lechleiter J, Galvan V (2018). Inhibition of mTOR protects the blood-brain barrier in models of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular cognitive impairment. American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 314 (4), H693-H703. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00570.2017 *APSselect awarded by the American Physiological Society
      4. Van Skike CE, Galvan V (2018). A perfect sTORm: The role of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in cerebrovascular dysfunction of Alzheimer’s disease – A Mini-Review. Gerontology, 64 (3), 205-211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000485381
      5. Zhang S-Y, Clark NE, Freije CA, Pauwels E, Taggart A, Okada S, Mandel H, Garcia P, Ciancanelli MJ, Biran A, Lafaille FG, Tsumura M, Cobat A, Luo J, Volpi S, Zimmer B, Sakata S, Dinis A, Ohara O, Garcia Reino EJ, Dobbs K, Hasek M, Holloway SP, McCammon K, Hussong SA, DeRosa N, Lorenzo L, Hyodo M, Van Skike CE, Katolik A, Faria E, Halwani R, Fukuhara R, Galvan V, Damha MJ, Al-Muhsen S, Itan Y, Boeke JD, Notarangelo LD, Studer L, Kobayashi M, Diogo L, Fairbrother W, Abel L, Rosenberg B, Hart J, Etzioni A, Casanova J-L (2018). Inborn errors of lariat metabolism in humans with viral infections of the brainstem. Cell, 172 (5), 952-965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.02.019
      6. Jahrling JB, Lin A, DeRosa N, Hussong S, Van Skike CE, Girotti M, Javors M, Zhao Q, Maslin LA, Asmis R, Galvan V (2018). mTOR drives cerebral blood flow and memory deficits in LDLR-/- mice modeling atherosclerosis and vascular cognitive impairment. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 38 (1), 58-74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0271678X17705973
      7. Castillo-Carranza DL, Nilson AN, Van Skike CE, Jahrling JB, Patel K, Garach P, Gerson JE, Sengupta U, Abisambra J, Nelson P, Troncoso J, Ungvari Z, Galvan V, Kayed R (2017). Cerebral microvascular accumulation of tau oligomers in Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies. Aging and Disease, 8 (3), 257-266. http://dx.doi.org/10.14336/AD.2017.0112
      8. Matthews DB, Novier A, Diaz-Granados JL, Van Skike CE, Ornelas L, Mittleman G (2017). Impact of adolescent alcohol use across the lifespan: long-lasting tolerance to high dose alcohol coupled with potentiated spatial memory impairments to moderate dose alcohol. Alcohol, 61, 33-42.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2017.01.012 
      9. Van Skike CE, Casey EM, Maggio SE, Reynolds AR, Bardo MT, Dwoskin LP, Prendergast MA, & Nixon K (2016). Critical needs in drug discovery for cessation of alcohol and nicotine polysubstance abuse. Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 65, 269-287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2015.11.004
      10. Van Skike CE, Diaz-Granados JL, & Matthews DB (2015). Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure produces persistent anxiety in adolescent and adult rats. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 39 (2), 262-271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer/12617
      11. Ornelas LC, Novier A, Van Skike CE, Diaz-Granados JL, & Matthews DB (2015). The effects of acute ethanol on motor impairments in adolescent, adult, and aged rats. Alcohol, 49 (2), 121-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2014.12.002
      12. Squeglia LM, Boissoneault J, Van Skike CE, Nixon SJ, & Matthews DB (2014). Differential effects of alcohol across the lifespan: Recent insights from adolescent, adult, and aged populations using human and animal models. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 38 (10), 2509-2516. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer.12531
      13. Novier A, Van Skike CE, Diaz-Granados JL, Mittleman G, & Matthews DB (2013). Acute alcohol produces ataxia and cognitive impairments in aged animals: a comparison between young adult and aged rats. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer.12110
      14. Novier A, Van Skike CE, Chin VS, Diaz-Granados JL, & Matthews DB (2012) Low and moderate doses of acute ethanol do not impair spatial cognition but facilitate accelerating rotarod performance in adolescent and adult rats. Neuroscience Letters, 512, 38-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2012.01.059
      15. Van Skike CE, Novier A, Diaz-Granados JL, & Matthews DB (2012). The effect of chronic intermittent ethanol exposure on spatial memory in adolescent rats: the dissociation of metabolic and cognitive tolerances.  Brain Research, 1453, 34-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2012.03.006
      16. Chin VS, Van Skike CE, Berry RB, Kirk RE, Diaz-Granados JL, & Matthews DB (2011). Effects of acute ethanol and acute allopregnanolone on spatial memory in adolescent and adult rats. Alcohol, 45 (5), 473-483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2011.03.001
      17. Van Skike CE*, Chin VS*, & Matthews DB (2010). Effects of ethanol on hippocampal function during adolescence: a look at the past and thoughts on the future. Alcohol, 44, 3-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2009.10.015. *Denotes equal contribution.
      18. Van Skike CE, Botta P, Chin VS, Tokunaga S, Silvers JM, Venard J, Diaz-Granados JL, Valenzuela CF, & Matthews DB (2010). Behavioral Effects of Ethanol in Cerebellum are Age Dependent: Potential System and Molecular Mechanisms. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 34(12), 2070-2080. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01303.x

      BOOK CHAPTERS

      1. Van Skike CE, Matthews DB. (In Production). Ethanol and the Aging Brain. In The Neuroscience of Aging.
      2. Liang H, Nie J, Van Skike CE, Valentine JM, Orr ME. (2019). Mammalian Target of Rapamycin at the Crossroad between Alzheimer’s disease and Diabetes. In Nakabeppu Y., Ninomiya T. (Eds.), Diabetes Mellitus: A Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s disease, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 1128 (Ch. 10, pp.185-225). Springer Nature, Singapore. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3540-2_10
      3. Van Skike CE, Zandy SL, Matthews DB. (2016). Substance Use in Adolescence. In P. Kumanov & A. Agarwal (Eds.), Puberty: Physiology and Abnormalities (Ch. 19, pp. 273-285). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32122-6_1

      EDITORIALS

             1.  Van Skike CE, Galvan, V. (2020). Cerebrovascular dysfunction links aging to neurological disease. Aging, 12 (14), 13847-13848. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103854. *Invited editorial

             2.  Van Skike CE, Galvan, V. (2019). mTOR in cerebrovascular disease. Aging, 11 (5), 1331-1332. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101869. *Invited editorial