Elizabeth Anne Thomas
Research Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior
Laboratory Director, Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research
Biography
Elizabeth Anne Thomas, Ph.D., is Research Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior and the Laboratory Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research at the University of California, Irvine. Thomas received her bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of California, Irvine. She completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Molecular Biology at The Scripps Research Institute. Her research focuses on the development of biochemical, genetic and epigenetic biomarkers for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, including Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and bipolar disorder, with a focus on alternative biospecimens and point-of-care testing.
Thomas has served as principal investigator on multiple National Institutes of Health grants, including studies exploring salivary biomarkers for Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases. She has also received funding from the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation to develop saliva lithium monitoring methods for patients with psychiatric disorders and from the Alzheimer's Disease Drug Discovery Foundation, to identify early biomarkers of cognitive decline.
Thomas has authored over 110 peer-reviewed publications and has served on numerous National Institutes of Health study sections, including as co-chair of the ZRG1 AN-Q study section. She has provided grant review services for international funding agencies in Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Spain, France, Singapore, and Canada. Thomas serves on several journal editorial boards and has been a peer reviewer for over 65 journals. She also serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the Huntington's Disease Society of America Center of Excellence.
Return to topEducation
- B.A. in Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 1989
- Ph.D. in Pharmacology, University of California, Irvine, 1994
Distinctions
- Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, Diagnostics Accelerator Award, 2022
- Australasian Neuroscience Society, International Travel Award, 2022
- Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacology, Travel Award, 2008
- Hereditary Disease Foundation, CAG_N Symposium, Travel Award, 2006
- International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) Young Investigator Award, 2002
- CAG Triplet Repeat Disorders, Gordon Research Conference Young Investigator Travel Award, 2005
- National Alliance for Research on Depression and Schizophrenia (NARSAD) Young Investigator Award, 1997
- Institute for Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Award, UC Irvine, 2022-2023
- American Society for Neurochemistry, Young Researcher Award, 2001
- Prentiss Foundation Pilot Innovation Award, 2017
Areas of Expertise
- Neurodegenerative Disease Biomarkers
- Salivary Huntingtin Protein Levels
- Epigenetic Mechanisms in Neuropsychiatry
- Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Therapeutics
- Plasma Neurofilament Light Chains
- Apolipoprotein D Signaling Pathways
- DNA Methylation Psychiatric Predictors
Recent Publications
- Bamford A.R., Logan C., Do Q.T., Nguyen K., McMillan L.C., Yassa M.A., Shankle W.R., Thomas E.A., “Salivary total tau: a clinically practical measure of tau neuropathology in Alzheimer’s disease” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neurology, vol. 273, 2026.
- Diggs, M.D., Bamford, A.R., Thomas, E.A., O'Connor, P.J., “High Intensity Resistance Exercise (HIRE) Improves Mood and Lowers Systemic Inflammation in Females without Increasing Blood-Brain Interface Biomarker S100β” (opens in new tab), Physiology and Behavior, vol. 11534, 2025.
- Bamford, A.R., Adams, J.N., Kim, S., Taylor, L.M., Tuteja, N., McMillan, L.C., Sattari, N., Chen, I.Y., Chappel-Farley, M.G., Escalante, Y., Lawrence, A.L., Meza, N.J., Berisha, D.E., Dave, A., Malhas, R., Mapstone, M., Mander, B.A., Yassa, M.A., Thomas, E.A., “Salivary levels of amyloid beta reflect brain amyloid beta burden in cognitively-normal older adults” (opens in new tab), Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer S Disease, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 100216, 2025.
- Bamford, A.R., Parkin, G.P., Corey-Bloom, J., Thomas, E.A., “Comparisons of neurodegenerative disease biomarkers across different biological fluids from patients with Huntington's disease” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neurology, vol. 272, pp. 158, 2025.
- Parkin, G.M., Thomas, E.A., Corey-Bloom, J., “Mapping neurodegeneration across the Huntington's disease spectrum: a five-year longitudinal analysis of plasma neurofilament light” (opens in new tab), eBioMedicine, vol. 104, pp. 105173, 2024.
- Bamford, A.R., Adams, J.N., Kim, S., McMillan, L., Malhas, R., Hitt, B.D., Mapstone, M., Yassa, M.A., Thomas, E.A., “The amyloid beta 42/38 ratio as a plasma biomarker of early memory deficits in cognitively unimpaired older adults” (opens in new tab), Neurobiology of Aging, vol. 144, pp. 12-18, 2024.
- Robinson, D.M., Edwards, K., Willoughby, M.T., Hamilton, K.R., Blair, C.B., Granger, D.A., Thomas, E.A., “Increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adolescents with high salivary levels of copper, manganese, and zinc” (opens in new tab), European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 33, no. 9, pp. 3091-3099, 2024.
- Parkin, G.M., Thomas, E.A., Corey-Bloom, J., “Plasma NFL as a prognostic biomarker for enriching HD-ISS stage 1 categorization: A Cross-Sectional Study” (opens in new tab), eBioMedicine, vol. 93, pp. 104646, 2023.
- Granger, D.A., Parkin, G.P., Buspavanich, P., Findeisen, P., Rietschel, M., McCarthy, M.J., Thomas, E.A., “Rapid detection of lithium concentrations in oral fluid” (opens in new tab), Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, vol. 45, pp. 813-816, 2023.
- Gatzke-Kopp, L.M., Riis, J., Piccerillo, H., Ahmadi, H., Granger, D.A., Blair, C.B., Thomas, E.A., “Environmental tobacco smoke exposure is associated with increased levels of metals in children's saliva” (opens in new tab), Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, vol. 33, pp. 903-910, 2023.
- Parkin, G.M., Corey-Bloom, J., Snell, C., Smith, H., Laurenza, A., Daldin, M., Bresciani, A., Thomas, E.A., “Salivary Huntingtin protein is uniquely associated with clinical features of Huntington's Disease” (opens in new tab), Scientific Reports, vol. 13, pp. 1034, 2023.
- Thomas E.A., “The Utility of Biomarkers for Huntington’s Disease” (opens in new tab), Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience, vol. Part F1569, pp. 3-15, 2023.
- Thomas E.A., “DNA Methylation and Epigenetic Aging Biomarkers in Huntington’s Disease” (opens in new tab), Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience, vol. Part F1569, pp. 367-386, 2023.
- Granger S.W., Thomas E.A., “Saliva as a Relevant Biofluid for Huntington’s Disease Biomarker Research” (opens in new tab), Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience, vol. Part F1569, pp. 77-97, 2023.
- Parkin, G.M., Thomas, E. A., “Provider Perspectives on the Current Use of Lithium Medications and Lithium Monitoring Practices for Psychiatric Conditions” (opens in new tab), Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, vol. 18, pp. 2083-2093, 2022.
- Parkin, G.M., Kim, S., Mikhail, A., Malhas, R., McMillan, L., Hollearn, M., Granger, D.A., Mapstone, M., Yassa, M.A., Thomas, E.A., “Associations between saliva and plasma cytokines and YKL-40 in cognitively-normal, older adults” (opens in new tab), Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, vol. 35, pp. 117-126, 2022.
- Parkin, G.M., Corey-Bloom, J., Long, J.D., Snell, C., Smith, H., Thomas, E.A., “Associations between prognostic index scores and plasma neurofilament light in Huntington's disease” (opens in new tab), Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, vol. 97, pp. 25-28, 2022.
- Monroe, D.C., Thomas, E.A., Cecchi, N.J., Granger, D.A., Hicks, J.W., Small, S.L., “Salivary S100 Calcium-Binding Protein Beta (S100B) and Neurofilament Light (NfL) after Acute Exposure to Repeated Head Impacts in Collegiate Water Polo Players” (opens in new tab), Scientific Reports, vol. 12, pp. 3439, 2022.
- Parkin, G.M., McCarthy, M.J., Thein, S.H., Piccerillo, H.L., Warikoo, N., Granger, D.A., Thomas, E.A., “Saliva testing as a means to monitor therapeutic lithium levels in patients with psychiatric disorders: identification of clinical and environmental covariates, and their incorporation into a prediction model” (opens in new tab), Bipolar Disorders, vol. 23, pp. 679-688, 2021.
- Parkin, G.M., Corey-Bloom, J., Snell, C., Castleton, J., Thomas, E.A., “Plasma neurofilament light in Huntington's disease: a marker for disease onset, but not symptom progression” (opens in new tab), Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, vol. 87, pp. 32-38, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Thomas, E.A., Coppola, G., Desplats, P.A., Tang, B., Soragni, E., Burnett, R., Gao, F., Fitzgerald, K.M., Borok, J.F., Herman, D., Geschwind, D. H., Gottesfeld, J.M., “The Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor, HDACi 4b, Ameliorates the Disease Phenotype and Transcriptional Abnormalities in Huntington's Disease Transgenic Mice” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 105, pp. 15564-9, 2008.
- Narayan, S., Tang, B., Steven Head, S.R., Gilmartin, T.J., Sutcliffe, J.G., Dean, B., Thomas, E.A., “Molecular Profiles of Schizophrenia in the CNS at Different Stages of Illness” (opens in new tab), Brain Research, vol. 1239, pp. 235-248, 2008.
- Thomas, E.A., Cravatt, B.F., Danielson, P.E., Gilula, N.B., Sutcliffe, J.G., “Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH), the Degradative Enzyme for Neuromodulatory Fatty Acid Amides, Has Widespread Distribution in Neurons within the Rat Central Nervous System” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neuroscience Research, vol. 50, pp. 1047-1052, 1997.
- Jia, H., Pallos, J., Jacques, V., Lau, A., Tang, B., Cooper, A., Syed, A., Purcell, J., Chen, Y., Sharma, S., Sangrey, G.R., Darnell, S.B., Plasterer, H., Sadri-Vakili, G., Gottesfeld, J.M., Thompson, L.M., Rusche, J.R., Marsh, J.L., Thomas, E.A., “Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors targeting HDAC3 and HDAC1 ameliorate polyglutamine-elicited phenotypes in model systems of Huntington's disease” (opens in new tab), Neurobiology of Disease, vol. 46, pp. 351-61, 2012.
- Jia, H., Kast, R. J., Steffan, J.S., Thomas, E.A., “Selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition imparts beneficial effects in Huntington's disease mice; implications for the ubiquitin–proteasomal and autophagy systems” (opens in new tab), Human Molecular Genetics, vol. 21, pp. 5280-93, 2012.
- Thomas, E.A., Carson, M.J., Neal M.J., Sutcliffe, J.G., “Unique Allosteric Regulation of 5HT Receptor-Mediated Signal Transduction by Oleamide” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 94, pp. 14115-14119, 1997.
- Desplats, P.A., Denny, C.A., Kass, K.E., Gilmartin, T., Head, S.R., Sutcliffe, J.G., Seyfried, T.N., Thomas, E.A., “Glycolipid and Ganglioside Metabolism Imbalances in Huntington's Disease” (opens in new tab), Neurobiology of Disease, vol. 27, pp. 265-77, 2007.
- Tang, B., Dean, B., Thomas, E.A., “Disease- and age-related changes in histone acetylation at gene promoters in psychiatric disorders” (opens in new tab), Translational Psychiatry, vol. 1, pp. e64, 2011.
- Desplats, P.A., Kass, K.E., Gilmartin, T., Stanwood, G.D., Head, S.H., Sutcliffe, J.G., Thomas. E.A., “Selective Deficits in the Expression of Striatal-Enriched mRNAs in Huntington's Disease” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neurochemistry, vol. 96, pp. 743-757, 2006.
- Torkamani, A., Dean, B., Schork, N.J., Thomas, E.A., “Co-Expression Network Analysis of Neural Tissue Reveals Perturbations in Developmental Processes in Schizophrenia” (opens in new tab), Genome Research, vol. 20, pp. 403-12, 2010.
Contact Information
Email: e.thomas@uci.edu
Phone: 760-274-3025
Address: 1412 Biological Sciences III
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Last updated on 4/29/2026.