.png)
Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin
Cara Westmark is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her research interests lie in the area of preclinical testing of pharmaceutical and dietary interventions for the treatment of fragile X syndrome. Her laboratory found significant associations between postnatal diet and the severity of several disease comorbidities in mouse and human models of fragile X. This work suggests that early dietary interventions may reduce the development and/or severity of disease comorbidities in fragile X. This presentation examines associations between consumption of soy-based diets and weight gain in Fmr1KO mice. The mechanism through which diet affects fragile X phenotypes, including obesity, is unknown. Future research plans include identification of bioactive components in soy-based diets that mediate effects on fragile X phenotypes as well as possible underlying mechanisms.