Rhonda Renee Voskuhl
Professor-in-Residence, Neurology, University of California Los Angeles
rvoskuhl@mednet.ucla.edu
(310) 206-4636
635 Charles E. Young Drive South
NRB1 475D
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Dr. Rhonda R. Voskuhl holds the Jack H. Skirball Chair for Multiple Sclerosis Research.
Clinical Trials.gov website cognition trial enrolling
NPR All Things Considered Feb 2016
Lancet Neurology Estriol Trial Results Jan 2016
UCLA Dept of Neurology MS Program
Clinical Trials.gov website estriol relapse trial completed
Affiliations
Jack H. Skirball Chair, Multiple Sclerosis Research
Director, Multiple Sclerosis Program
Director, Multiple Sclerosis Program
Biography
Dr. Voskuhl is the Director of the UCLA MS Program, holds the Jack H. Skirball Chair in MS, and is a Professor in the UCLA Dept. of Neurology. She has received national and international awards for her research and has continuous funding for over 20 years. Professor Voskuhl uses a “Bedside to Bench to Bedside” approach, basing reserach on clinical observations, understanding them in the lab, then designing novel clincal trials. She sees MS patients in the neurology clinic and mentors at the postdoctoral, graduate, and undergradate levels.
Publications
- Voskuhl R, Itoh Y. The X factor in neurodegeneration.. The Journal of experimental medicine, 2022.
- Voskuhl RR, MacKenzie-Graham A. Chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is an excellent model to study neuroaxonal degeneration in multiple sclerosis.. Frontiers in molecular neuroscience, 2022.
- Voskuhl R, Kuhle J, Siddarth P, Itoh N, Patel K, MacKenzie-Graham A. Decreased neurofilament light chain levels in estriol-treated multiple sclerosis.. Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 2022.
- Killestein J, Schoonheim MM, Voskuhl RR. B-Cell Depletion and COVID-19 Severity in Multiple Sclerosis: Remaining Challenges.. Neurology, 2021.
- Voskuhl R. A new cell subtype that confers neuroprotection.. Nature immunology, 2020.
- Voskuhl RR, Patel K, Paul F, Gold SM, Scheel M, Kuchling J, Cooper G, Asseyer S, Chien C, Brandt AU, Meyer CE, MacKenzie-Graham A. Sex differences in brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis.. Biology of sex differences, 2020.
- Krysko KM, Graves JS, Dobson R, Altintas A, Amato MP, Bernard J, Bonavita S, Bove R, Cavalla P, Clerico M, Corona T, Doshi A, Fragoso Y, Jacobs D, Jokubaitis V, Landi D, Llamosa G, Longbrake EE, Maillart E, Marta M, Midaglia L, Shah S, Tintore M, van der Walt A, Voskuhl R, Wang Y, Zabad RK, Zeydan B, Houtchens M, Hellwig K. Sex effects across the lifespan in women with multiple sclerosis.. Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders, 2020.
- Voskuhl RR. The effect of sex on multiple sclerosis risk and disease progression.. Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 2020.
- Golden LC, Itoh Y, Itoh N, Iyengar S, Coit P, Salama Y, Arnold AP, Sawalha AH, Voskuhl RR. Parent-of-origin differences in DNA methylation of X chromosome genes in T lymphocytes.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2019.
- Itoh Y, Golden LC, Itoh N, Matsukawa MA, Ren E, Tse V, Arnold AP, Voskuhl RR. The X-linked histone demethylase Kdm6a in CD4+ T lymphocytes modulates autoimmunity.. The Journal of clinical investigation, 2019.
- Tassoni A, Farkhondeh V, Itoh Y, Itoh N, Sofroniew MV, Voskuhl RR. The astrocyte transcriptome in EAE optic neuritis shows complement activation and reveals a sex difference in astrocytic C3 expression.. Scientific reports, 2019.
- Voskuhl RR, Itoh N, Tassoni A, Matsukawa MA, Ren E, Tse V, Jang E, Suen TT, Itoh Y. Gene expression in oligodendrocytes during remyelination reveals cholesterol homeostasis as a therapeutic target in multiple sclerosis.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2019.
- Voskuhl R, Klein S. Sex is a biological variable - in the brain too.. Nature, 2019.
- Meyer CE, Gao JL, Cheng JY, Oberoi MR, Johnsonbaugh H, Lepore S, Kurth F, Thurston MJ, Itoh N, Patel KR, Voskuhl RR, MacKenzie-Graham A. Axonal damage in spinal cord is associated with gray matter atrophy in sensorimotor cortex in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 2019.
- Kammel LG, Wei W, Jami SA, Voskuhl RR, O'Dell TJ. Enhanced GABAergic Tonic Inhibition Reduces Intrinsic Excitability of Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Cells in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis.. Neuroscience, 2018.
- MacKenzie-Graham A, Brook J, Kurth F, Itoh Y, Meyer C, Montag MJ, Wang HJ, Elashoff R, Voskuhl RR. Estriol-mediated neuroprotection in multiple sclerosis localized by voxel-based morphometry.. Brain and behavior, 2018.
- Voskuhl R. It is time to conduct phase 3 clinical trials of sex hormones in MS - Yes.. Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 2018.
- Kim RY, Mangu D, Hoffman AS, Kavosh R, Jung E, Itoh N, Voskuhl R. Oestrogen receptor β ligand acts on CD11c+ cells to mediate protection in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2018.
- Voskuhl RR, Sawalha AH, Itoh Y. Sex chromosome contributions to sex differences in multiple sclerosis susceptibility and progression.. Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 2018.
- Itoh N, Itoh Y, Tassoni A, Ren E, Kaito M, Ohno A, Ao Y, Farkhondeh V, Johnsonbaugh H, Burda J, Sofroniew MV, Voskuhl RR. Cell-specific and region-specific transcriptomics in the multiple sclerosis model: Focus on astrocytes.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017.
- Voskuhl R, Momtazee C. Pregnancy: Effect on Multiple Sclerosis, Treatment Considerations, and Breastfeeding.. Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, 2017.
- Itoh Y, Voskuhl RR. Cell specificity dictates similarities in gene expression in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.. PloS one, 2017.
- Klein RS, Voskuhl R, Segal BM, Dittel BN, Lane TE, Bethea JR, Carson MJ, Colton C, Rosi S, Anderson A, Piccio L, Goverman JM, Benveniste EN, Brown MA, Tiwari-Woodruff SK, Harris TH, Cross AH. Speaking out about gender imbalance in invited speakers improves diversity.. Nature immunology, 2017.
- Golden LC, Voskuhl R. The importance of studying sex differences in disease: The example of multiple sclerosis.. Journal of neuroscience research, 2017.
- Itoh N, Kim R, Peng M, DiFilippo E, Johnsonbaugh H, MacKenzie-Graham A, Voskuhl RR. Bedside to bench to bedside research: Estrogen receptor beta ligand as a candidate neuroprotective treatment for multiple sclerosis.. Journal of neuroimmunology, 2016.
- Voskuhl R, Patti F. Hormone replacement in menopausal women with multiple sclerosis: Looking back, thinking forward.. Neurology, 2016.
- Gold SM, Voskuhl RR. Pregnancy and multiple sclerosis: from molecular mechanisms to clinical application.. Seminars in immunopathology, 2016.
- MacKenzie-Graham A, Kurth F, Itoh Y, Wang HJ, Montag MJ, Elashoff R, Voskuhl RR. Disability-Specific Atlases of Gray Matter Loss in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.. JAMA neurology, 2016.
- Voskuhl R. Rebound Relapses After Ceasing Another Disease-Modifying Treatment in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis: Are There Lessons to Be Learned?. JAMA neurology, 2016.
- Voskuhl R, Wang H, Elashoff RM. Why use sex hormones in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis? - Authors' reply.. The Lancet. Neurology, 2016.
- Voskuhl R. Preclinical studies of sex differences: a clinical perspective.. Biology of sex differences, 2016.
- Voskuhl RR, Wang H, Wu TC, Sicotte NL, Nakamura K, Kurth F, Itoh N, Bardens J, Bernard JT, Corboy JR, Cross AH, Dhib-Jalbut S, Ford CC, Frohman EM, Giesser B, Jacobs D, Kasper LH, Lynch S, Parry G, Racke MK, Reder AT, Rose J, Wingerchuk DM, MacKenzie-Graham AJ, Arnold DL, Tseng CH, Elashoff R. Estriol combined with glatiramer acetate for women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial.. The Lancet. Neurology, 2015.
- Kim RY, Hoffman AS, Itoh N, Ao Y, Spence R, Sofroniew MV, Voskuhl RR. Astrocyte CCL2 sustains immune cell infiltration in chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. Journal of neuroimmunology, 2014.
- Kurth F, Luders E, Sicotte NL, Gaser C, Giesser BS, Swerdloff RS, Montag MJ, Voskuhl RR, Mackenzie-Graham A. Neuroprotective effects of testosterone treatment in men with multiple sclerosis.. NeuroImage. Clinical, 2014.
- Du S, Itoh N, Askarinam S, Hill H, Arnold AP, Voskuhl RR. XY sex chromosome complement, compared with XX, in the CNS confers greater neurodegeneration during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014.
- Ghandour S, Voskuhl R, Schumacher M. The androgen receptor as a therapeutic target for myelin repair in demyelinating diseases.. Expert review of endocrinology & metabolism, 2013.
- Spence RD, Wisdom AJ, Cao Y, Hill HM, Mongerson CR, Stapornkul B, Itoh N, Sofroniew MV, Voskuhl RR. Estrogen mediates neuroprotection and anti-inflammatory effects during EAE through ERa signaling on astrocytes but not through ER� signaling on astrocytes or neurons.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2013.
- Wisdom AJ, Cao Y, Itoh N, Spence RD, Voskuhl RR. Estrogen receptor-� ligand treatment after disease onset is neuroprotective in the multiple sclerosis model.. Journal of neuroscience research, 2013.
- Voskuhl RR. Assisted reproduction technology in multiple sclerosis: giving birth to a new avenue of research in hormones and autoimmunity.. Annals of neurology, 2012.
- Ziehn MO, Avedisian AA, Dervin SM, Umeda EA, O'Dell TJ, Voskuhl RR. Therapeutic testosterone administration preserves excitatory synaptic transmission in the hippocampus during autoimmune demyelinating disease.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2012.
- Gold SM, Sasidhar MV, Lagishetty V, Spence RD, Umeda E, Ziehn MO, Krieger T, Schulz KH, Heesen C, Hewison M, Voskuhl RR. Dynamic development of glucocorticoid resistance during autoimmune neuroinflammation.. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2012.
- Sasidhar MV, Itoh N, Gold SM, Lawson GW, Voskuhl RR. The XX sex chromosome complement in mice is associated with increased spontaneous lupus compared with XY.. Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2012.
- Ziehn MO, Avedisian AA, Dervin SM, O'Dell TJ, Voskuhl RR. Estriol preserves synaptic transmission in the hippocampus during autoimmune demyelinating disease.. Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology, 2012.
- Voskuhl RR, Gold SM. Sex-related factors in multiple sclerosis susceptibility and progression.. Nature reviews. Neurology, 2012.
- MacKenzie-Graham AJ, Rinek GA, Avedisian A, Morales LB, Umeda E, Boulat B, Jacobs RE, Toga AW, Voskuhl RR. Estrogen treatment prevents gray matter atrophy in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. Journal of neuroscience research, 2012.
- Daumer M, Weinshenker BG, Voskuhl R. Pregnancy: a "modifiable" risk factor in MS?. Neurology, 2012.
- Spence RD, Voskuhl RR. Neuroprotective effects of estrogens and androgens in CNS inflammation and neurodegeneration.. Frontiers in neuroendocrinology, 2011.
- MacKenzie-Graham A, Rinek GA, Avedisian A, Gold SM, Frew AJ, Aguilar C, Lin DR, Umeda E, Voskuhl RR, Alger JR. Cortical atrophy in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: in vivo imaging.. NeuroImage, 2011.
- Spence RD, Hamby ME, Umeda E, Itoh N, Du S, Wisdom AJ, Cao Y, Bondar G, Lam J, Ao Y, Sandoval F, Suriany S, Sofroniew MV, Voskuhl RR. Neuroprotection mediated through estrogen receptor-alpha in astrocytes.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011.
- Voskuhl R. Sex differences in autoimmune diseases.. Biology of sex differences, 2011.
- Du S, Sandoval F, Trinh P, Umeda E, Voskuhl R. Estrogen receptor-� ligand treatment modulates dendritic cells in the target organ during autoimmune demyelinating disease.. European journal of immunology, 2010.
- Mangiardi M, Crawford DK, Xia X, Du S, Simon-Freeman R, Voskuhl RR, Tiwari-Woodruff SK. An animal model of cortical and callosal pathology in multiple sclerosis.. Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland), 2010.
- Crawford DK, Mangiardi M, Song B, Patel R, Du S, Sofroniew MV, Voskuhl RR, Tiwari-Woodruff SK. Oestrogen receptor beta ligand: a novel treatment to enhance endogenous functional remyelination.. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2010.
- Ziehn MO, Avedisian AA, Tiwari-Woodruff S, Voskuhl RR. Hippocampal CA1 atrophy and synaptic loss during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, EAE.. Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology, 2010.
- Du S, Sandoval F, Trinh P, Voskuhl RR. Additive effects of combination treatment with anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective agents in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. Journal of neuroimmunology, 2009.
- Voskuhl RR, Peterson RS, Song B, Ao Y, Morales LB, Tiwari-Woodruff S, Sofroniew MV. Reactive astrocytes form scar-like perivascular barriers to leukocytes during adaptive immune inflammation of the CNS.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2009.
- Gold SM, Sasidhar MV, Morales LB, Du S, Sicotte NL, Tiwari-Woodruff SK, Voskuhl RR. Estrogen treatment decreases matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 in autoimmune demyelinating disease through estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha).. Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology, 2009.
- MacKenzie-Graham A, Tiwari-Woodruff SK, Sharma G, Aguilar C, Vo KT, Strickland LV, Morales L, Fubara B, Martin M, Jacobs RE, Johnson GA, Toga AW, Voskuhl RR. Purkinje cell loss in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. NeuroImage, 2009.
- Gold SM, Voskuhl RR. Estrogen treatment in multiple sclerosis.. Journal of the neurological sciences, 2009.
- Tiwari-Woodruff S, Voskuhl RR. Neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of estrogen receptor ligand treatment in mice.. Journal of the neurological sciences, 2009.
- Gold SM, Voskuhl RR. Estrogen and testosterone therapies in multiple sclerosis.. Progress in brain research, 2009.
- Voskuhl R, Wu TC. Do estroprogestinic hormones protect against chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea in multiple sclerosis?. Nature clinical practice. Neurology, 2008.
- Gold SM, Chalifoux S, Giesser BS, Voskuhl RR. Immune modulation and increased neurotrophic factor production in multiple sclerosis patients treated with testosterone.. Journal of neuroinflammation, 2008.
- Smith-Bouvier DL, Divekar AA, Sasidhar M, Du S, Tiwari-Woodruff SK, King JK, Arnold AP, Singh RR, Voskuhl RR. A role for sex chromosome complement in the female bias in autoimmune disease.. The Journal of experimental medicine, 2008.
- Tiwari-Woodruff S, Morales LB, Lee R, Voskuhl RR. Differential neuroprotective and antiinflammatory effects of estrogen receptor (ER)alpha and ERbeta ligand treatment.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007.
- Sicotte NL, Giesser BS, Tandon V, Klutch R, Steiner B, Drain AE, Shattuck DW, Hull L, Wang HJ, Elashoff RM, Swerdloff RS, Voskuhl RR. Testosterone treatment in multiple sclerosis: a pilot study.. Archives of neurology, 2007.
- Smith DL, Dong X, Du S, Oh M, Singh RR, Voskuhl RR. A female preponderance for chemically induced lupus in SJL/J mice.. Clinical immunology (Orlando, Fla.), 2006.
- Gold SM, Voskuhl RR. Testosterone replacement therapy for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.. Current opinion in investigational drugs (London, England : 2000), 2006.
- MacKenzie-Graham A, Tinsley MR, Shah KP, Aguilar C, Strickland LV, Boline J, Martin M, Morales L, Shattuck DW, Jacobs RE, Voskuhl RR, Toga AW. Cerebellar cortical atrophy in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. NeuroImage, 2006.
- Morales LB, Loo KK, Liu HB, Peterson C, Tiwari-Woodruff S, Voskuhl RR. Treatment with an estrogen receptor alpha ligand is neuroprotective in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2006.
- Palaszynski KM, Smith DL, Kamrava S, Burgoyne PS, Arnold AP, Voskuhl RR. A yin-yang effect between sex chromosome complement and sex hormones on the immune response.. Endocrinology, 2005.
- Liu H, Ding Y, Voskuhl RR. Method to detect functional estrogen receptor expression using estrogen receptor probing compound.. Journal of immunoassay & immunochemistry, 2005.
- Palaszynski KM, Liu H, Loo KK, Voskuhl RR. Estriol treatment ameliorates disease in males with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: implications for multiple sclerosis.. Journal of neuroimmunology, 2004.
- Palaszynski KM, Loo KK, Ashouri JF, Liu HB, Voskuhl RR. Androgens are protective in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: implications for multiple sclerosis.. Journal of neuroimmunology, 2004.
- Soldan SS, Alvarez Retuerto AI, Sicotte NL, Voskuhl RR. Dysregulation of IL-10 and IL-12p40 in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.. Journal of neuroimmunology, 2004.
- Liu HB, Loo KK, Palaszynski K, Ashouri J, Lubahn DB, Voskuhl RR. Estrogen receptor alpha mediates estrogen's immune protection in autoimmune disease.. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 2003.
- Soldan SS, Alvarez Retuerto AI, Sicotte NL, Voskuhl RR. Immune modulation in multiple sclerosis patients treated with the pregnancy hormone estriol.. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 2003.
- Sicotte NL, Voskuhl RR, Bouvier S, Klutch R, Cohen MS, Mazziotta JC. Comparison of multiple sclerosis lesions at 1.5 and 3.0 Tesla.. Investigative radiology, 2003.
- Voskuhl RR, Pribyl TM, Kampf K, Handley V, Liu HB, Feng J, Campagnoni CW, Soldan SS, Messing A, Campagnoni AT. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis relapses are reduced in heterozygous golli MBP knockout mice.. Journal of neuroimmunology, 2003.
- Voskuhl RR. Hormone-based therapies in MS.. International MS journal, 2003.
- Sicotte NL, Liva SM, Klutch R, Pfeiffer P, Bouvier S, Odesa S, Wu TC, Voskuhl RR. Treatment of multiple sclerosis with the pregnancy hormone estriol.. Annals of neurology, 2002.
- Voskuhl RR. Gender issues and multiple sclerosis.. Current neurology and neuroscience reports, 2002.
- Voskuhl RR, Palaszynski K. Sex hormones in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: implications for multiple sclerosis.. The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry, 2001.
- Voskuhl RR. Myelin protein expression in lymphoid tissues: implications for peripheral tolerance.. Immunological reviews, 1998.
- Voskuhl RR, Farris RW, Nagasato K, McFarland HF, Dalcq MD. Epitope spreading occurs in active but not passive EAE induced by myelin basic protein.. Journal of neuroimmunology, 1996.