Lisa Monteggia facts for kids

Lisa M. Monteggia is an American scientist who studies the brain. She is a Professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She also leads the Vanderbilt Brain Institute.

Dr. Monteggia is a neuroscientist. This means she studies how the brain works. She looks at the tiny parts of the brain, like cells and chemicals. Her goal is to understand brain disorders. She has made important discoveries about how certain brain chemicals help with depression. She also studies how a medicine called Ketamine works for depression. Another area she explores is how genes affect brain connections.

Becoming a Brain Scientist

Lisa Monteggia started her journey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1989, she earned a degree in microbiology. This is the study of very tiny living things. She then got a master's degree in biology from the same university.

After her studies, Dr. Monteggia worked at a company that makes medicines. She was an Associate Scientist and later a Scientist. This was from 1991 to 1994.

She then went back to school to get her PhD. She studied at Chicago Medical School. After her PhD, she did more advanced training at Yale University. There, she learned from a famous scientist named Eric J. Nestler. During this time, she studied special channels in brain cells. These channels help brain cells send signals.

Discoveries About the Brain

In 2000, Dr. Monteggia joined UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. She started her own research program there. She focused on how certain brain proteins affect mood and behavior. She also studied a gene called MeCP2. This gene is linked to a condition called Rett syndrome.

How Brain Proteins Affect Mood

Dr. Monteggia studied how proteins called neurotrophins affect how well antidepressants work. In 2014, her team looked at a specific protein called BDNF. They found that if mice had less BDNF in their brains, they had trouble learning. They also found that antidepressants didn't work as well.

Her research showed that BDNF in a part of the brain called the Hippocampus is very important. This part of the brain helps with learning and memory. Her findings suggest that antidepressants work by affecting BDNF in this specific brain area.

Understanding Rett Syndrome

Dr. Monteggia also made big steps in understanding the MeCP2 gene. This gene is important for how brain cells connect. In 2006, she found that MeCP2 helps control how brain signals are sent.

She later found that problems with MeCP2 can lead to behaviors seen in Rett syndrome. This is a serious brain disorder. Her work helps scientists understand what goes wrong in the brain for people with Rett Syndrome. This can lead to better treatments in the future.

Fast-Acting Antidepressants

Dr. Monteggia also started studying ketamine. Ketamine is a medicine that can help with depression very quickly. She wanted to know why it works so fast. She compared it to another medicine called memantine. She found that ketamine affects brain cells differently.

Her team discovered that ketamine helps brain cells adjust their connections. This adjustment seems to be linked to its fast antidepressant effects. This research suggests new ways to treat mood disorders.

Leading Brain Research

In 2018, Dr. Monteggia moved to Vanderbilt University. She became the Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute. She continues her important research there. She still studies neurotrophins and how they affect depression. She also keeps exploring how ketamine works. And she continues to study the MeCP2 gene and its role in Rett Syndrome.

Dr. Monteggia also helps share scientific knowledge. She is an editor for several important science journals.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Monteggia has received many awards for her amazing work:

• 2001, 2003: Young Investigator Award from NARSAD (a research alliance for mental health).
• 2005: Daniel X. Freedman Award for outstanding research.
• 2010: Independent Investigator Award, NARSAD.
• 2011: Rising Star Award from the International Mental Health Research Organization.
• 2011: Daniel H. Efron Research Award for outstanding basic/translational research.
• 2014: Distinguished Investigator Award, NARSAD.
• 2022: Elected to the National Academy of Medicine. This is a very high honor for scientists.
• 2022: Awarded the Anna-Monika Prize for her work on depression.

Important Research Papers

Dr. Monteggia has written many scientific papers. Here are a few examples:

• Lin PY, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2018) Genetic dissection of pre- and postsynaptic BDNF-TrkB signaling in synaptic efficacy of CA3-CA1 synapses. Cell Reports.
• Gideons ES, Lin PY, Mahgoub M, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2017) Chronic lithium treatment elicits its antimanic effects via BDNF-TrkB dependent synaptic downscaling. eLife.
• Suzuki K, Nosyreva E, Hunt KW, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2017) The ketamine metabolite hydroxynorketamine impacts downstream signaling via NMDA receptor inhibition. Nature.
• Gideons ES, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2014) Mechanisms underlying differential effectiveness of memantine and ketamine in rapid antidepressant responses. Proc Natl Acad Sci.
• Autry A. E., Adachi M., Nosyreva E, Na ES, Los MF, Cheng P, Kavalali, ET, Monteggia LM (2011) NMDA Receptor Blockade at Rest Triggers Rapid Behavioural Antidepressant Responses. Nature.
• Adachi M, Autry AE, Covington HE 3rd, Monteggia LM (2009) MeCP2-mediated Transcription Repression in the basolateral amygdala may underlie heightened anxiety in a mouse model of Rett Syndrome. J Neurosci.
• Monteggia LM, Barrot M, Powell C, Berton O, Galanis V, Nagy A, Greene RW, Nestler EJ (2004) Essential Role of BDNF in Adult Hippocampal Function and Depression. Proc Natl Acad Sci.