Erin R. Hascup, PhD

Erin R. Hascup, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Dale and Deborah Smith Center for Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (Smith Alzheimer’s Center), the Kenneth Stark Endowed Chair in Alzheimer’s Research, and an Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Pharmacology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Dr. Hascup leads a team of researchers in an active neuroscience research laboratory within the Smith Alzheimer’s Center, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease and successful aging. Her primary research interests include evaluation of the neurological, neurochemical, and cognitive changes that occur across the continuum of aging, Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders with the long-term goal of determining disease stage-specific therapeutics that have the potential to improve patient outcomes, with a special interest in sex and gender differences, and early diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Hascup's Laboratory has received funding from the National Institute on Aging (R01AG057767 and R01AG061937), the Illinois Department of Public Health, and the SIU School of Medicine Foundation. She has served as a reviewer at study section for several entities including the NIH Center for Scientific Review, the Department of Defense, Brain Canada/Azrieli Foundation, and the Illinois Department of Public Health. She has also reserved a subject matter expert reviewer for grants at Alzheimer's Research UK, the United Kingdom Research Innovation Funding Service, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale and Foundation Alzheimer Grant, the European Science Foundation, and the Research Foundation Flanders. Dr. Hascup has also served as study section chair for the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. She is also a member of the Illinois Department of Public Health Alzheimer’s Disease Advisory Committee. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Gerontology, and is a co-Editor for the Frontiers in Dementia research topic “Synaptic dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias”. Additionally, Dr. Hascup has been a speaker at several national and international conferences including the International Conference on Alzheimer's & Parkinson's Diseases, the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, the International Symposium on Neurobiology and Neuroendocrinology of Aging, the Society for Neuroscience Meeting, the NIA's Senescence in Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Workshop, and the Winter Conference on Brain Research. She was honored as the Bohan Visiting Professor and Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Hascup has also mentored more than 30 individuals ranging from undergraduate student to faculty members.

Under Dr. Hascup’s leadership, Smith Alzheimer’s Center outreach and education efforts grew in minoritized and underrepresented communities, which often experience an increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This has been accomplished through strong collaborations with community partners such as the NAACP and the Salvation Army. The Smith Alzheimer’s Center has received support for education and outreach from the Springfield Memorial Foundation, the King’s Daughters Organization, and the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at SIU School of Medicine.

She earned a B.S. in biochemistry from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a PhD in Neurobiology from the University of Kentucky. She completed postdoctoral training at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and McGill University in Montréal, Canada.

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