Éva Szentirmai, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Szentirmai is an assistant professor and researcher with the WWAMI Medical Education Program at WSU Spokane. She is also affiliated with the Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology, as well as the Sleep and Performance Research Center in Spokane.
She received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Szeged, Faculty of Medicine, in Hungary. She started her post-doctoral training in the Department of Physiology at the same university. In 2005, Dr. Szentirmai joined Dr. James Krueger’s sleep research lab at Washington State University Pullman, where she continued her post-doctoral research on the neurobiology of sleep. Since 2009, Dr. Szentirmai has served as a WWAMI faculty member, where she teaches first-year students and conducts research.
The focus of Dr. Szentirmai’s research is on neuronal circuits that are involved in regulating sleep-wake activity, feeding and metabolism. The purpose of her research is to understand how the brain uses metabolic and hormonal signals from the gastrointestinal tract and the hypothalamus to control sleep and coordinate metabolism and vigilance. Specifically, her laboratory investigates the role of the hypothalamic ghrelin-neuropeptide Y-orexin circuit and the brown adipose tissue in the regulation of sleep-wake activity and metabolism.
Selected publications
1. Szentirmai, É., Hajdu, I., Obál, F. Jr., Krueger, J.M. (2006) Ghrelin-induced sleep responses in ad libitum fed and food-restricted rats. Brain Res 1088: 131-140.
2. Szentirmai, É., Kapás, L., Krueger, J.M. (2007) Ghrelin microinjection into forebrain sites induces wakefulness and feeding in rats. Am J Physiol 292(1): R575-R585.
3. Szentirmai, É., Kapás, L., Sun, Y., Smith, R.G., Krueger, J.M. (2007) Spontaneous sleep and homeostatic sleep regulation in ghrelin knockout mice. Am J Physiol 293(1): R510-R517.
4. Szentirmai, É., Kapás, L., Sun, Y., Smith, R.G., Krueger, J.M. The preproghrelin gene is required for normal integration of thermoregulation and sleep in mice. (2009) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 106(33):14069-14074.
5. Szentirmai, É., Kapás, L., Sun, Y., Smith, R.G., Krueger, J.M. Restricted feeding-induced sleep, activity and body temperature changes in normal and preproghrelin deficient mice. Am J Physiol. 2010 Feb; 298(2):R467-77.
For more of Dr. Szentirmai's publications:
