Elaine Peskind, MD
Personal Statement
I am Co-Director of the VA VISN 20 (Northwest Network) Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC). I am also the Friends of Alzheimer’s Research Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine and am Associate Director of the UW Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. My research over the past 30 years has addressed cognitive and behavioral problems and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in neurodegenerative dementing disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. More recently, my research has focused on combat trauma posttraumatic stress disorder and the clinical phenomenology as well as neuroimaging and CSF biomarkers of neurodegeneration in combat blast concussion mild traumatic brain injury and in Gulf War Veterans Illness. I continue to conduct single site as well as multi-site large scale studies of CSF biomarkers and pharmacological treatment trials for behavioral disorders and traumatic brain injury.
Summary of my research program:
Blast Concussion Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)
Strategies: multimodal neuroimaging: structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (diffusion tensor imaging [DTI], DTI tractography, macromolecular proton fraction mapping, resting state and task-based functional MRI; susceptibility-weighted imaging, FDG-positron emission tomography [PET]; cerebrospinal fluid and plasma biomarkers; genetic risk factors; clinical, neurocognitive and behavioral assessments,
Gulf War Veterans Illness (GWVI)
Strategies: multimodal neuroimaging and CSF and plasma biomarkers as described above, epigenetics, pain sensitivity testing and ability to activate endogenous opioid systems, and functional activity of paraoxonase I, the enzyme that metabolizes organophosphate insecticides.
Cerebrospinal Fluid and Plasma Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration Strategies: Bead-based multiplex assays using Luminex and Meso-Scale platforms, Quanterix ultra-sensitive platform, and broad-scale mass spectrometry for measurement of proteins, circulating RNAs, microRNAs in collaboration with VA/UW and Institute for Systems Biology investigators.
Pharmacologic Treatment of Disruptive Agitation in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)
Strategies: Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study multi-center randomized placebo-controlled trial of the alpha-1 adrenoreceptor antagonist, prazosin, for treatment of disruptive agitation in AD.
Department Affiliations
Centers/Programs
Training Programs
- Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship
- VA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Advanced Fellowship in Mental Illness Research and Treatment – VA Puget Sound Health Care System
- Alzheimer’s Disease Training Program: Neurobehavior, Neuropathology, and Risk Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease – University of Washington
Scholarly Expertise
Recent Publications
(2026)
Brain Commun 8(2): fcag090
Meabon JS, Schindler AG, Murray DR, Colasurdo EA, Sikkema CL, Rodriguez JW, Omer M, Cline MM, Logsdon AF, Cross DJ, Richards TL, Meeker KD, Shutes-David A, Yagi M, Perl DP, Banks WA, Thomas RG, McEvoy C, Crabtree AJ, Powell JR, Mihalik JP, Pagulayan KF, Raskind MA, Peskind ER, Cook DG
(2026 Mar 24)
Neurology 106(6): e214646
Emanuel OM, Miner AE, Lee SY, Matusz EF, Tanner JJ, Marsiske M, Holgerson A, Ly MT, Tuz-Zahra F, Tripodis Y, Adler CH, Balcer LJ, Bernick C, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Ashton NJ, Peskind ER, Banks SJ, Barr WB, Wethe JV, Cantu RC, Coleman MJ, Dodick DW, McClean MD, Mez J, Palmisano J, Martin B, Lin AP, Pasternak O, Koerte IK, Cummings JL, Reiman EM, Shenton ME, Stern RA, Bouix S, Alosco ML, Asken BM
(2026 Feb)
J Int Neuropsychol Soc 32(2): 132-146
Adler JS, Ly MT, Yhang E, Tripodis Y, Adler CH, Balcer LJ, Bernick C, Ashton N, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Peskind E, Banks SJ, Barr WB, Wethe JV, Bondi MW, Delano-Wood L, Cantu RC, Coleman MJ, Dodick DW, Daneshvar DH, McClean MD, Mez J, Palmisano JN, Martin B, Lin AP, Koerte IK, Bouix S, Cummings JL, Shenton ME, Reiman EM, Stern RA, Alosco ML, DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project
(2026 Jan 29)
J Neurotrauma
Jansson D, Shofer J, Colasurdo E, Schindler A, Li G, Adler CH, Balcer L, Bernick C, Daneshvar D, Katz D, McClean M, Mez J, Palmisano J, Ashton N, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Tripodis Y, Alosco ML, Cummings JL, Reiman EM, Shenton M, Stern RA, Iliff J, Peskind ER, DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project
(2026 Feb)
J Neurotrauma 43(3-4): 224-235
Wiegand TLT, Pankatz L, Arciniega H, Jung LB, Tuz-Zahra F, Bouix S, Lubeck H, Rojczyk P, Schuhmacher LS, Buring J, Katz DI, Tripodis Y, Pasternak O, Cetin-Karayumak S, Rathi Y, Adler CH, McKee AC, Balcer LJ, Bernick C, Coleman MJ, Colasurdo EA, Lin AP, Peskind ER, Ashton NJ, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Alosco ML, Cummings JL, Reiman EM, Stern RA, Shenton ME, Koerte IK, DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project
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