Kelly Monk, Ph.D.
Co-Director and Senior Scientist, Vollum Institute
Email: monk@ohsu.edu
Phone: 503-494-2976
Office: Vollum 3431A
Executive Assistant: Jennifer Beck
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 under the mentorship of Nancy Ratner 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.
Summary of current research
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?
We use mouse and zebrafish models to better understand how myelinated axons are formed, maintained, and regenerated.
Bin JM, Emberley K, Buscham TJ, Eichel-Vogel MA, Doan RA, Steyer AM, Nolan MF, Möbius W, Monk KR, Werner HB, Emery B, Lyons DA. (2025) Developmental axon diameter growth of central nervous system axons does not depend on ensheathment or myelination by oligodendrocytes. bioRxiv [Preprint]. Jan 10:2025.01.10.632348. doi: 10.1101/2025.01.10.632348. PMID: 39829751 Free PMC article. Preprint.
Collins HY, Doan RA, Li J, Early JE, Madden ME, Simkins T, Lyons DA, Monk KR, Emery B. (2024) FBXW7 regulates MYRF levels to control myelin capacity and homeostasis in the adult CNS. bioRxiv [Preprint]. Oct 17:2024.10.15.618515. doi: 10.1101/2024.10.15.618515. PMID: 39464137 Free PMC article. Preprint.
Stevens B, Monk KR, Freeman MR. (2024) The Biology of Glia. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. Sep 16:a041809. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041809. Online ahead of print. PMID: 39284663
Brennan EJ, Monk KR, Li J. (2024) A zebrafish gephyrinb mutant distinguishes synaptic and enzymatic functions of Gephyrin. Neural Dev. Jul 27;19(1):14. doi: 10.1186/s13064-024-00191-5. PMID: 39068495 Free PMC article.
Li J, Miramontes TG, Czopka T, Monk KR. (2024) Synaptic input and Ca2+ activity in zebrafish oligodendrocyte precursor cells contribute to myelin sheath formation. Nat Neurosci. 27(2):219-231.
Chen J, Stork T, Kang Y, Nardone KAM, Auer F, Farrell RJ, Jay TR, Heo D, Sheehan A, Paton C, Nagel KI, Schoppik D, Monk KR, Freeman MR. (2024) Astrocyte growth is driven by the Tre1/S1pr1 phospholipid-binding G protein-coupled receptor. Neuron. 112(1):93-112.e10.
Doan RA, Monk KR. (2023) Dock1 acts cell-autonomously in Schwann cells to regulate the development, maintenance, and repair of peripheral myelin. bioRxiv. 2023.10.26.564271
Fazal SV, Mutschler C, Chen CZ, Turmaine M, Chen CY, Hsueh YP, Ibañez-Grau A, Loreto A, Casillas-Bajo A, Cabedo H, Franklin RJM, Barker RA, Monk KR, Steventon BJ, Coleman MP, Gomez-Sanchez JA, Arthur-Farraj P. (2023) SARM1 detection in myelinating glia: sarm1/Sarm1 is dispensable for PNS and CNS myelination in zebrafish and mice. Front Cell Neurosci. 17:1158388.
Häberlein F, Mingardo E, Merten N, Schulze Köhling NK, Reinoß P, Simon K, Japp A, Nagarajan B, Schrage R, Pegurier C, Gillard M, Monk KR, Odermatt B, Kostenis E, Gomeza J. (2022) Humanized zebrafish as a tractable tool for in vivo evaluation of pro-myelinating drugs. Cell Chem Biol. 29(10):1541-1555.e7.
Limbach LE, Penick RL, Casseday RS, Hyland MA, Pontillo EA, Ayele AN, Pitts KM, Ackerman SD, Harty BL, Herbert AL, Monk KR, Petersen SC. (2022) Peripheral nerve development in zebrafish requires muscle patterning by tcf15/paraxis. Dev Biol. 490:37-49.
Chen J, Poskanzer KE, Freeman MR, Monk KR. (2020) Live-imaging of astrocyte morphogenesis and function in zebrafish neural circuits. Nature Neurosci. 23(10):1297-1306.
Mogha A, Harty BL, Carlin D, Joseph J, Sanchez NE, Suter U, Piao X, Cavalli V, Monk KR. (2016) Gpr126/Adgrg6 has Schwann cell autonomous and nonautonomous functions in peripheral nerve injury and repair. J. Neurosci. 36:12351-12367.
Petersen SC, Luo R, Liebscher I, Giera S, Jeong SJ, Mogha A, Ghidinelli M, Feltri ML, Schöneberg T, Piao X, Monk KR. (2015) The adhesion GPCR GPR126 has distinct, domain-dependent functions in Schwann cell development mediated by interaction with Laminin-211. Neuron 85:755-769.