Holly Ingraham, PhD

ABOUT MY SCIENCE: Holly A. Ingraham, Ph.D., is the Herzstein Endowed Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF. Her research focuses on sex differences and hormone-responsive nodes in the brain and peripheral tissues that regulate metabolic, skeletal, and gut physiology. Through question-driven basic science, Ingraham seeks to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptive responses throughout the female lifespan and to understand how hormonal fluctuations affect women’s health beyond the reproductive system. Please visit our website at https://ingrahamlab.ucsf.edu for an overview of our current research efforts in the basic science of "Hormones and Nerves in Female Physiology," which aims to improve women's health.

During her postdoctoral work in the Rosenfeld lab at UCSD, she was the driving force behind identifying Pit-1, one of the first tissue-specific regulators and a founding member of the POU transcription factor family. At UCSF, Ingraham demonstrated that the nuclear receptor SF-1 is a key developmental factor in establishing gonadal sex differences by regulating the peptide hormone anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH). Using biochemical and structural studies, her lab identified phospholipids as ligands for SF-1 (LRH-1) and further demonstrated the in vivo impact of SUMOylation of these receptors in endocrine organs and metabolic tissues.

Ingraham’s more recent work has defined molecular pathways that control female physiology. Her group provided a mechanistic understanding of the preovulatory activity spike, underscoring the impact of estrogen in counteracting metabolic decline. Her high-impact studies focused on brain-body physiology during distinct female life stages have been featured in The New York Times Science Section (October 26, 2021) and the NIH Director’s Blog (August 1, 2024). Ingraham has chaired and served on numerous NIH review panels and scientific advisory boards. Her long-standing dedication to understanding basic female physiology has led to numerous distinguished lectureships and public forums on women’s health. She is also the founder of a biotech venture focused on alleviating age-related frailty and skeletal decline. Ingraham is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. from Revelle College at the University of California, San Diego.

ABOUT ME: Those who devote their lives to creative pursuits are often inspired by a singular event. Mine came from my great-grandfather, whose 1890 Bausch & Lomb microscope, abandoned in a closet after being shipped west from Worcester, Massachusetts, came into my possession when I was 10. I picked it up and began exploring the biological world of Northern California, never to stop. However, sporadic events are insufficient to sustain a lifetime of curiosity and discovery. That support would come through the State of California via its amazing and accessible public education system, beginning at Revelle College at UCSD, and through the NIH, which has continuously supported my curiosity-based discovery research program for over 25 years. Unwavering support also comes from my family and mentors, who provide the personal strength and resiliency needed to overcome moments of disappointment, insecurity, and self-doubt. I thoroughly enjoy my life as a scientist and remain addicted to the rare experimental successes that are sprinkled among the many failures inherent in the scientific process.

ABOUT MENTORING: In partnership with San Francisco State University, I also direct the UCSF IRACDA Scholars Program, which aims to build our nation's biomedical workforce and faculty. Our efforts, along with generous funding from an NIGMS K12 grant and the UCSF School of Medicine, provide career development programming for a small cohort of postdoctoral fellows. Our local efforts today will make a national difference tomorrow.