Dr. Neelima Chauhan obtained her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in life sciences with physiology and biochemistry majors, and a bachelor’s degree in education and psychology from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India. After migrating to the U.S., she received her postdoctoral training in neurotoxicology at Oregon Health Science University and in molecular neurobiology and neurodegeneration at Loyola University Chicago.
After successful completion of postdoctoral trainings, she obtained an independent joint position as assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and as research biologist with Veterans Affairs (VA). She then became an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UIC where she also served as a faculty for the graduate program in neuroscience. Besides, she worked as the neuroscience program director at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center.
Dr. Chauhan has directed research projects funded by VA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in translational neuroscience, with a major focus on Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury. She has presented over 100 abstracts and published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, over six reviews, and more than five book chapters. She has also served on the editorial boards of many neuro-biomedical Journals.
Besides, Dr. Chauhan has served on various institutional administrative committees including the Institutional Biosafety Committee and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. She has also served as a reviewer on RRD6 VA MERIT REVIEW Study Section and on NIH Grant Study Sections. She is a member of many professional societies such as the Society for Neuroscience, the American Society for Neurochemistry, and the International Society for Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Dr. Chauhan’s Fulbright-Nehru project is evaluating the therapeutic potential of Indian classical music – by virtue of its unique melodic/rhythmic structure – in treating age-associated neuropsychiatric disorders.