Kelly Monk, Ph.D.

  • Professor, Vollum Institute
  • Co-Director and Senior Scientist, Vollum Institute
  • Program Director, Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine
  • Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine

Biography

Kelly Monk is a senior scientist and co-director of the Vollum Institute. After earning her B.S. degree in Biochemistry from Elmira College in 2001, Monk pursued doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati and was awarded her Ph.D. in Cell Biology in 2006. She did postdoctoral training in the lab of William Talbot at Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2011, she was appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Developmental Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and was promoted to associate professor in 2016. Monk joined the Vollum Institute in 2017 and was named director of the Vollum/OHSU Neuroscience Graduate Program in 2018.

The myelin sheath surrounding axons is one of the most exquisite examples of a specialized cell-cell interaction in the vertebrate nervous system. Myelin is formed by glial cells called oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system. These cells associate with axons, and elaborate massive amounts of cytoplasm, ultimately wrapping axons to form the myelin sheath. While progress has been made to determine how glial cells make myelin, there is still much we do not understand.

How do glial cells transition from simple axonal ensheathment to membrane spiraling? What are the signals between glial cells and axons that regulate myelination? How is myelin maintained once it is formed? When myelin regenerates in disease or after injury, do the same developmental pathways that regulate myelination regulate remyelination? Or are there additional pathways necessary for this process, specific to adult tissue?

The Monk lab uses mouse and zebrafish models to better understand how myelinated axons are formed, maintained, and regenerated.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.S., 2001, Elmira College
    • Ph.D., 2006, University of Cincinnati

Areas of interest

  • Glial cell biology
  • Neuron-glial interactions
  • Glial-glial interactions
  • Myelination and remyelination
  • Zebrafish

Honors and awards

  • NIH Bridging Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Scholar Award (2012)
  • Washington University Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award (2015)
  • American Society for Cell Biology Emerging Leader Prize Finalist (2015)
  • Washington University Distinguished Faculty Award (2016)
  • National Multiple Sclerosis Society Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar Award (2016)

Publications

Publications

  • Astrocyte growth is driven by the Tre1/S1pr1 phospholipid-binding G protein-coupled receptor

    Neuron
    1. Jiakun Chen
    2. Tobias Stork
    3. Yunsik Kang
    4. Katherine A.M. Nardone
    5. Franziska Auer
    6. Ryan J. Farrell
    7. Taylor R. Jay
    8. Dongeun Heo
    9. Amy Sheehan
    10. Cameron Paton
    11. Katherine I. Nagel
    12. David Schoppik
    13. Kelly R. Monk
    14. Marc R. Freeman
  • A zebrafish gephyrinb mutant distinguishes synaptic and enzymatic functions of Gephyrin

    Neural Development
    1. Emma J. Brennan
    2. Kelly R. Monk
    3. Jiaxing Li
  • Glial Cell Development and Function in the Zebrafish Central Nervous System

    Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology
    1. Tim Czopka
    2. Kelly Monk
    3. Francesca Peri
  • Synaptic input and Ca2+ activity in zebrafish oligodendrocyte precursor cells contribute to myelin sheath formation

    Nature Neuroscience
    1. Jiaxing Li
    2. Tania G. Miramontes
    3. Tim Czopka
    4. Kelly R. Monk
  • SARM1 detection in myelinating glia

    Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
    1. Shaline V. Fazal
    2. Clara Mutschler
    3. Civia Z. Chen
    4. Mark Turmaine
    5. Chiung Ya Chen
    6. Yi Ping Hsueh
    7. Andrea Ibañez-Grau
    8. Andrea Loreto
    9. Angeles Casillas-Bajo
    10. Hugo Cabedo
    11. Robin J.M. Franklin
    12. Roger A. Barker
    13. Kelly R. Monk
    14. Benjamin J. Steventon
    15. Michael P. Coleman
    16. Jose A. Gomez-Sanchez
    17. Peter Arthur-Farraj
  • Humanized zebrafish as a tractable tool for in vivo evaluation of pro-myelinating drugs

    Cell Chemical Biology
    1. Felix Häberlein
    2. Enrico Mingardo
    3. Nicole Merten
    4. Nina Katharina Schulze Köhling
    5. Philip Reinoß
    6. Katharina Simon
    7. Anna Japp
    8. Bhuvaneswari Nagarajan
    9. Ramona Schrage
    10. Cecile Pegurier
    11. Michel Gillard
    12. Kelly R. Monk
    13. Benjamin Odermatt
    14. Evi Kostenis
    15. Jesus Gomeza
  • Pathways to cures for multiple sclerosis

    Multiple Sclerosis Journal
    1. Bruce F. Bebo
    2. Mark Allegretta
    3. Douglas Landsman
    4. Kathy M. Zackowski
    5. Fiona Brabazon
    6. Walter A. Kostich
    7. Timothy Coetzee
    8. Alexander Victor Ng
    9. Ruth Ann Marrie
    10. Kelly R. Monk
    11. Amit Bar-Or
    12. Caroline C. Whitacre
  • Peripheral nerve development in zebrafish requires muscle patterning by tcf15/paraxis

    Developmental Biology
    1. Lauren E. Limbach
    2. Rocky L. Penick
    3. Rudy S. Casseday
    4. Maddelyn A. Hyland
    5. Erika A. Pontillo
    6. Afomia N. Ayele
    7. Kristen M. Pitts
    8. Sarah D. Ackerman
    9. Breanne L. Harty
    10. Amy L. Herbert
    11. Kelly R. Monk
    12. Sarah C. Petersen
  • Postembryonic screen for mutations affecting spine development in zebrafish

    Developmental Biology
    1. Ryan S. Gray
    2. Roberto Gonzalez
    3. Sarah D. Ackerman
    4. Ryoko Minowa
    5. Johanna F. Griest
    6. Melisa N. Bayrak
    7. Benjamin Troutwine
    8. Stephen Canter
    9. Kelly R. Monk
    10. Diane S. Sepich
    11. Lilianna Solnica-Krezel
  • Gpr126/Adgrg6 contributes to the terminal Schwann cell response at the neuromuscular junction following peripheral nerve injury

    GLIA
    1. Albina Jablonka-Shariff
    2. Chuieng Yi Lu
    3. Katherine Campbell
    4. Kelly R. Monk
    5. Alison K. Snyder-Warwick
  • Live-imaging of astrocyte morphogenesis and function in zebrafish neural circuits

    Nature Neuroscience
    1. Jiakun Chen
    2. Kira E. Poskanzer
    3. Marc R. Freeman
    4. Kelly R. Monk
  • Structural basis for adhesion G protein-coupled receptor Gpr126 function

    Nature communications
    1. Katherine Leon
    2. Rebecca L. Cunningham
    3. Joshua A. Riback
    4. Ezra Feldman
    5. Jingxian Li
    6. Tobin R. Sosnick
    7. Minglei Zhao
    8. Kelly R. Monk
    9. Demet Araç
  • GAIN domain-mediated cleavage is required for activation of G protein- coupled receptor 56 (GPR56) by its natural ligands and a small-molecule agonist

    Journal of Biological Chemistry
    1. Beika Zhu
    2. Rong Luo
    3. Peng Jin
    4. Tao Li
    5. Hayeon C. Oak
    6. Stefanie Giera
    7. Kelly R. Monk
    8. Parnian Lak
    9. Brian K. Shoichet
    10. Xianhua Piao
  • Myelinating Schwann cells ensheath multiple axons in the absence of E3 ligase component Fbxw7

    Nature communications
    1. Breanne L. Harty
    2. Fernanda Coelho
    3. Sarah E. Pease-Raissi
    4. Amit Mogha
    5. Sarah D. Ackerman
    6. Amy L. Herbert
    7. Robert W. Gereau
    8. Judith P. Golden
    9. David A. Lyons
    10. Jonah R. Chan
    11. Kelly R. Monk
  • Deletion of tsc2 in nociceptors reduces target innervation, ion channel expression, and sensitivity to heat

    eNeuro
    1. Dan Carlin
    2. Judith P. Golden
    3. Amit Mogha
    4. Vijay K. Samineni
    5. Kelly R. Monk
    6. Robert W. Gereau
    7. Valeria Cavalli
  • GPR56/ADG RG1 regulates development and maintenance of peripheral myelin

    Journal of Experimental Medicine
    1. Sarah D. Ackerman
    2. Rong Luo
    3. Yannick Poitelon
    4. Amit Mogha
    5. Breanne L. Harty
    6. Mitchell D'Rozario
    7. Nicholas E. Sanchez
    8. Asvin K.K. Lakkaraju
    9. Paul Gamble
    10. Jun Li
    11. Jun Qu
    12. Matthew R. MacEwan
    13. Wilson Zachary Ray
    14. Adriano Aguzzi
    15. M. Laura Feltri
    16. Xianhua Piao
    17. Kelly R. Monk
  • Microglial transglutaminase-2 drives myelination and myelin repair via GPR56/ADGRG1 in oligodendrocyte precursor cells

    eLife
    1. Stefanie Giera
    2. Rong Luo
    3. Yanqin Ying
    4. Sarah D. Ackerman
    5. Sung Jin Jeong
    6. Hannah M. Stoveken
    7. Christopher J. Folts
    8. Christina A. Welsh
    9. Gregory G. Tall
    10. Beth Stevens
    11. Kelly R. Monk
    12. Xianhua Piao
  • Mutations in dock1 disrupt early Schwann cell development

    Neural Development
    1. Rebecca L. Cunningham
    2. Amy L. Herbert
    3. Breanne L. Harty
    4. Sarah D. Ackerman
    5. Kelly R. Monk
  • Analysis of myelinated axon formation in zebrafish

    Methods in cell biology
    1. M. D'Rozario
    2. K. R. Monk
    3. S. C. Petersen
  • Dynein/dynactin is necessary for anterograde transport of Mbp mRNA in oligodendrocytes and for myelination in vivo

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    1. Amy L. Herbert
    2. Meng Meng Fu
    3. Catherine M. Drerup
    4. Ryan S. Gray
    5. Breanne L. Harty
    6. Sarah D. Ackerman
    7. Thomas O'Reilly-Pol
    8. Stephen L. Johnson
    9. Alex V. Nechiporuk
    10. Ben A. Barres
    11. Kelly R. Monk