Please note that we are no longer accepting new students or postdocs to our group.

Research in Elias’s laboratory has been directed towards investigating cellular signaling processes leading to neuronal cell death.  Cellular pathways leading to cell death have been molecularly dissected in order to provide novel therapeutic targets to treat neurodegenerative disorders.  This laboratory has worked on potential common final mediators of cell death signaling events that can be effectively targeted to treat neural disorders.  This work has been primarily focused on acute neuronal injury, such as stroke, although the results obtained from these studies have broader applications to more chronic/progressive neurodegenerative conditions. 

Currently, Elias is participating on an NIH SBIR-funded collaboration with Julie Coleman (Celdara Medical, Lebanon, NH) and Brad Molyneaux (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA) to move two of his patented, Kv2.1-directed neuroprotective peptides (CM-EA1 and CM-EA2, formerly TAT-C1aB and TAT-DP2) towards clinical use in acute stroke.

Finally, in addition to his position at Pitt, Elias also holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at Ben Gurion University.  He collaborates there with Michal Hershfinkel and Israel Sekler, along with Thanos Tzounopoulos at Pitt, on all things zinc.