Department of Medicine
Faculty Profiles by Division

Division of Geriatric Medicine

Faculty Profiles
[Return To Index page]
photo Stacey J. Sukoff Rizzo, PhD

Geriatrics

Associate Professor of Neurobiology

Department of Medicine – Aging Institute

Director, Preclinical Phenotyping Core

Email: rizzos@pitt.edu

Phone: 412-383-3719
Contact
Office: 100 Technology Drive
Suite 569
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
 
Phone: 412-383-3719
Fax: 412-383-9055
E-mail: rizzos@pitt.edu
Administrative Assistant:
Kathy Brickett
Address: 100 Technology Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Email: kab389@pitt.edu
Phone: 412-383-4416
Fax: 412-383-9055
Education and Training
Education
•PhD, University College of London, 2012
Research Interest
Research in Dr. Rizzo’s lab focuses on investigating the mechanisms that drive divergence from healthy aging towards inception and progression of Alzheimer’s disease, in order to identify novel pathways and targets that may enable the discovery of new therapeutic agents to treat and prevent disease. Dr. Rizzo is a behavior pharmacologist by training and holds a BS in Animal Sciences from Rutgers University and a PhD in Neuroscience from University College London. She is an internationally recognized expert in behavioral phenotyping and preclinical translational studies in animal models. Dr. Rizzo previously spent 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry in Neuroscience Drug Discovery departments at Wyeth Research, Merck Research Laboratories, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer where she led and contributed to many drug discovery projects across therapeutic areas. Prior to her current appoint, from 2014-2019, Dr. Rizzo served as Director of Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping at The Jackson Laboratory’s Institute for Mammalian Genetics (JAX) and Associate Director of JAX’s Center for Biometric Analysis. Dr. Rizzo’s lab is a critical component of three NIA funded multi-institutional consortiums including the Model Organism Development for Late Onset Alzheimer’s disease (MODEL-AD) consortium where she co-heads the Preclinical Testing Core which evaluates the potential therapeutic efficacy of novel test compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (www.MODEL-AD.org) and the Target Enablement to Accelerate Therapy Development for Alzheimer’s Disease (TREAT-AD) consortium.
Publications
Selected Publications:
Sukoff Rizzo, S.J., Masters, A., Onos, K.D., Quinney, S., Sasner, M., Oblak, A., Lamb, B.T., Territo, P.R. Improving preclinical to clinical translation in Alzheimer's disease research. Alzheimers & Dementia (NY). 2020; 6(1).
Oblak, A.L., Cope, Z.A., Quinney, S.K., Biesdorf, C., Masters, A.R., Onos, K.D., Haynes, L., Keezer, K.J., Meyer, J.A., Peters, J., Persohn, S.C., Bedwell, A.A., Eldridge, K., Speedy, R., Little, G., Williams, S-P., Sasner, M., Howell, G., Williams, H., Lamb, B.T., Territo, P.R., Sukoff Rizzo, S.J. Prophylactic Evaluation of Verubecestat on disease and symptom modifying effects in 5XFAD Mice. Alzheimers Dementia Clinical Translation. 2021.
Oblak, A.L., Forner, S., Territo, P.R., Sasner, M., Carter, G.W., Howell, G.R., Sukoff-Rizzo, S.J., Logsdon, B.A., Mangravite, L.M., Mortazavi, A., Baglietto-Vargas, D., Green, K.N., MacGregor, G.R., Wood, M.A., Tenner, A.J., LaFerla, F.M., Lamb, B.T. Model organism development and evaluation for late-onset Alzheimer's disease: MODEL-AD. Alzheimers & Dementia (NY). 2020; 6(1).
Oblak, A.L., Lin, P.B., Kotredes, K.P., Pandey, R.S., Garceau, D., Williams, H.M., Uyar, A., O'Rourke, R., O'Rourke, S., Ingraham, C., Bednarczyk, D., Belanger, M., Mangravite, L.M., Sukoff Rizzo, S.J., Territo, P.R., Carter, G.W., Howell, G.R., Sasner, M., Lamb, B.T. Comprehensive Evaluation of the 5XFAD Mouse Model for Preclinical Testing Applications: A MODEL-AD Study. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 2021; 13.
Murai, T., Sukoff Rizzo, S.J. The Importance of Complementary Collaboration of Researchers, Veterinarians, and Husbandry Staff in the Successful Training of Marmoset Behavioral Assays. ILAR Journal. 2021.
Kotredes, K.P., Oblak, A., Pandey, R.S., Lin, P.B., Garceau, D., Williams, H., Uyar, A., O'Rourke, R., O'Rourke, S., Ingraham, C., Bednarczyk, D., Belanger, M., Cope, Z., Foley, K.E., Logsdon, B.A., Mangravite, L.M., Sukoff Rizzo, S.J., Territo, P.R., Carter, G.W., Sasner, M., Lamb, B.T., Howell, G.R. Uncovering Disease Mechanisms in a Novel Mouse Model Expressing Humanized APOEe4 and Trem2*R47H. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 2021; 13.
Sponsored Research/Activities
Title: Preclinical investigation of common mechanistic links between aberrant protein aggregation and blood-brain barrier
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding Agency: National Institute of Health
Grant Number: RF1 NS117486
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2024

Division Websites

Cardiology

Endocrinology and Metabolism

Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

General Internal Medicine

Geriatric Medicine
Hematology/Oncology

Infectious Diseases

Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine

Renal-Electrolyte

Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology

Contact

Department of Medicine
1218 Scaife Hall
3550 Terrace Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Email:  chairoff@pitt.edu
Phone:  412-648-9636
Copyright © 2018 Department of Medicine / University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Site maintained by Medicine Technology Services MTS@PITT.EDU