The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences is excited to have Dr. Ronald Tjalkens share his work. Here is a brief bio on Dr. Tjalkens.

Dr. Tjalkens is a Professor of Neuroscience and Toxicology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University, studying the role of neuroinflammation in the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. A major focus of this research are molecular mechanisms underlying innate immune function in glial cells that lead to protein protein misfolding and neuronal injury. These studies use various neurodegenerative disease models, including environmental neurotoxins, neurotropic viruses, pharmacologic agents and transgenic mice. The laboratory also employs high-throughput, high-content imaging and AI-based image analysis to understand brain pathology and to screen new candidate medicines for therapeutic efficacy.