Geroscience · Brain Aging
William E. Sonntag, PhD
Gerontologist and Neuroendocrinologist
Director, Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging | University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
- 270+
- Publications
- 1986
- NIH funded since
- 1980
- First GH-aging report
01 · About
Biography
William E. Sonntag, PhD, is an American gerontologist and neuroendocrinologist who directs the Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He is George Lynn Cross Professor of Research and holds the Donald W. Reynolds Chair of Aging Research.
His research examines the cellular and molecular causes of age-related cognitive decline. In 1980 he was the first to report that growth hormone declines with age in rodents, and his work has shown that growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) influence brain blood flow, vascular density, neurogenesis, and memory in aging. He has published more than 270 original manuscripts and reviews and has been funded continuously by the National Institutes of Health since 1986.
Before joining OU in 2007 as founding Director of the Reynolds Center on Aging, he spent 23 years on the faculty of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where he directed basic science research for the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and the Roena Kulynych Center for Memory and Cognition Research.
02 · Research
Research Focus
The Sonntag Lab studies how aging and hormones affect the brain, with the goal of preventing cognitive decline and age-related disease.
- Growth hormone and IGF-1 in brain and cerebrovascular aging
- Vascular, astrocytic, and neuronal mechanisms of cognitive decline
- Cerebrovascular rarefaction and reduced cerebral blood flow
- Cognitive heterogeneity in aging animal models
- Inflammation and immune mediators of cognitive impairment
03 · Leadership
Leadership and Service
- Director, Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, OUHSC
- Program Director, Cellular and Molecular Geroscience CoBRE (NIH/NIGMS)
- Program Director, Geroscience Training Program in Oklahoma (NIH/NIA T32)
- Co-Leader, Development Core, Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center (NIH/NIA)
- Editor-in-Chief, GeroScience (formerly AGE), journal of the American Aging Association (2015 to 2017)
- Chair, Biological Sciences Section, Gerontological Society of America (2011 to 2012)
- Member of numerous NIH study sections and Special Emphasis Panels
04 · Honors
Honors
- Fellow, Gerontological Society of America
- Senior Scholar in Aging, Ellison Medical Foundation
- James W. Fisher Distinguished Lectureship, Tulane University
- George Lynn Cross Professor of Research, University of Oklahoma
- Donald W. Reynolds Chair of Aging Research
05 · Education
Education
- PhD, Physiological Psychology, Tulane University
- BS, Psychology and Chemistry, Tufts University
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Neuroendocrinology, Michigan State University (with Joseph Meites)
06 · Publications
Publications
Dr. Sonntag has published more than 270 peer-reviewed manuscripts and reviews on the biology of aging.
08 · Contact