About Dr. Klegeris

Originally from Latvia, I began studying various cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases during my D.Phil. thesis work at the University Department of Pharmacology and Exeter College, Oxford University, UK. Towards the end of my graduate work, I became interested in inflammatory responses of the central nervous system and started studies on microglial cells, which represent the immune system in the brain.

My interest in neuroinflammatory processes led me to the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, where I did my post-doctoral work in the Kinsmen Laboratory of Neurological Research.

Currently I am a Professor at the Department of Biology, I.K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, UBC Okanagan Campus in Kelowna, B.C., Canada. Identification of novel treatment options for neurodegenerative disease is the main research focus of the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology that I established at UBC Okanagan Campus. I also teach pharmacology and biochemistry courses for upper-year undergraduate students. I serve on the Editorial Boards of Brain Research Bulletin, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, and Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation.