Ellen van der Plas, PhD

Full Member

Research Program:

Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences

Faculty Rank:

Associate Professor

Campus:

Arkansas Children's Hospital

College:

College of Medicine

Department:

Pediatrics

Cancer Research Interest

Disease Site Focus: Pediatric Oncology
Research Focus Area: Treatment
Type of Research: Clinical
Research Keywords: psycho-oncology, brain development, neurocognitive outcomes
Research Interest Statement: I am interested in the developing brain of children who have chronic health conditions, such as leukemia. Survival rates for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) approach 95%. As the number of survivors across the US has increased, the focus of research has shifted to life after cancer. Research in ALL survivors has highlighted problems in executive functions, representing mental functions governed by the frontal lobes. Most patients will be cured prior to entering kindergarten, meaning that these neurocognitive problems potentially create a lifetime burden. Indeed, research in long-term survivors of ALL show that neurocognitive difficulties affect scholastic and vocational success, creating a profound and long-lasting burden on quality of life. My work focuses on the role of abnormal neurodevelopment in explaining the long-term burden of childhood cancer. We address research questions about the developing brain through neurocognitive assessments, neuroimaging, and quantification of neurochemical markers of brain injury that can be detected in the blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid. My research goals are predicated on the notion that gaining insight into neurodevelopmental changes will be invaluable for future efforts aimed at curbing neurotoxicity of cancer treatment.

Contact Information

Email Address: EVanderplas@uams.edu
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Recent Publications

van der Plas E, Nelson E, Becknell B, [et al.]. Age-Related Changes in Brain Structure in Pediatric Chronic Kidney Disease. JAMA network open. 2025 8(2):e2457601. PMID: 39899296. PMCID: PMC11791706.
Gandy K, Koscik TR, Alexander T, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Characterization of brain development with neuroimaging in a female mouse model of chemotherapy treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Translational pediatrics. 2024 13(3):408-416. PMID: 38590373. PMCID: PMC10998997.
Barrett LDG, Ryckman KK, Goedken AM, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Subsequent Kidney Transplant after Pediatric Heart Transplant: Prevalence and Risk Factors. American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. 2024. PMID: 38431077. PMCID: PMC11816832.
van der Plas E, Darji H, Srivastava DK, [et al.]. Risk factors for neurocognitive impairment, emotional distress, and poor quality of life in survivors of pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma: A report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Cancer. 2024. PMID: 38373075. PMCID: PMC11139574.
Lullmann O, van der Plas E, Harshman LA. Understanding the impact of pediatric kidney transplantation on cognition: A review of the literature. Pediatric transplantation. 2023:e14597. PMID: 37664967. PMCID: PMC11034761.
Gandy K, Sapkota Y, Scoggins MA, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Genetic variants, neurocognitive outcomes, and functional neuroimaging in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. JNCI cancer spectrum. 2023 7(4). PMID: 37285328. PMCID: PMC10317488.
Koscik TR, van der Plas E, Long JD, [et al.]. Longitudinal changes in white matter as measured with diffusion tensor imaging in adult-onset myotonic dystrophy type 1. Neuromuscular disorders : NMD. 2023. PMID: 37419717. PMCID: PMC10529200.
Lullmann O, Conrad AL, Steinbach EJ, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Neurocognitive deficits may not resolve following pediatric kidney transplantation. Pediatric transplantation. 2023:e14505. PMID: 36932049. PMCID: PMC11001201.
Zhang L, Guo Z, Zhang H, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Assisted annotation in Deep LOGISMOS: Simultaneous multi-compartment 3D MRI segmentation of calf muscles. Medical physics. 2023. PMID: 36750977. PMCID: PMC10515733.
Cheung YT, Charalambous A, Grootenhuis M, van der Plas E. Editorial: Psychosocial aspects of adolescents and young adults with cancer. Frontiers in psychology. 2023 14:1126571. PMID: 36760437. PMCID: PMC9903046.
Schultz JL, Langbehn DR, Al-Kaylani HM, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Longitudinal Clinical and Biological Characteristics in Juvenile-Onset Huntington's Disease. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. 2023 38(1):113-122. PMID: 36318082. PMCID: PMC9851979.
Schultz JL, Epping EA, van der Plas E, [et al.]. Striatal Development in Early-Onset Huntington's Disease. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. 2022 37(12):2459-2460. PMID: 36177602. PMCID: PMC9878993.
Al-Kaylani HM, Reasoner EE, Loeffler BT, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Characterizing academic performance in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia with population-based achievement tests. Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.). 2022 5(9):e1560. PMID: 34596316. PMCID: PMC9458490.
Byrne LM, Schultz JL, Rodrigues FB, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Neurofilament Light Protein as a Potential Blood Biomarker for Huntington's Disease in Children. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. 2022 37(7):1526-1531. PMID: 35437792. PMCID: PMC9308659.
Reasoner EE, van der Plas E, Al-Kaylani HM, [et al.]. Behavioral features in child and adolescent huntingtin gene-mutation carriers. Brain and behavior. 2022 12(7):e2630. PMID: 35604958. PMCID: PMC9304841.
van der Plas E, Lullmann O, Hopkins L, [et al.]. Associations between neurofilament light-chain protein, brain structure, and chronic kidney disease. Pediatric research. 2022 91(7):1735-1740. PMID: 34274959. PMCID: PMC8761779.
Hamilton MJ, Atalaia A, McLean J, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Clinical and neuroradiological correlates of sleep in myotonic dystrophy type 1. Neuromuscular disorders : NMD. 2022 32(5):377-389. PMID: 35361525.
van der Plas E, Harshman L. Leveraging neuroimaging to understand the impact of chronic kidney disease on the brain. Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany). 2022 37(5):921-925. PMID: 34731310. PMCID: PMC9035041.
Gandy K, Scoggins MA, Phillips N, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Sex-Based Differences in Functional Brain Activity During Working Memory in Survivors of Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. JNCI cancer spectrum. 2022 6(2). PMID: 35603857. PMCID: PMC9041337.
van der Plas E, Solomon MA, Hopkins L, [et al.]. Global and Regional White Matter Fractional Anisotropy in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease. The Journal of pediatrics. 2022 242:166-173.e3. PMID: 34758354. PMCID: PMC8882141.
Al-Kaylani HM, Loeffler BT, Mott SL, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Characterizing Early Changes in Quality of Life in Young Women With Breast Cancer. Frontiers in psychology. 2022 13:871194. PMID: 35645920. PMCID: PMC9132041.
Reasoner EE, van der Plas E, Langbehn DR, [et al.]. Cortical Features in Child and Adolescent Carriers of Mutant Huntingtin (mHTT). Journal of Huntington's disease. 2022 11(2):173-178. PMID: 35275555. PMCID: PMC9177765.
van der Plas E, Spencer Noakes TL, Butcher DT, [et al.]. Cognitive and behavioral risk factors for low quality of life in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Pediatric research. 2021 90(2):419-426. PMID: 33203967. PMCID: PMC9014848.
Kuhlmann E, van der Plas E, Axelson E, Conrad AL. Brain Developmental Trajectories in Children and Young Adults with Isolated Cleft Lip and/or Cleft Palate. Developmental neuropsychology. 2021 46(4):314-326. PMID: 34348063. PMCID: PMC8814052.
Conrad AL, Kuhlmann E, van der Plas E, Axelson E. Brain structure and neural activity related to reading in boys with isolated oral clefts. Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence. 2021 27(5):621-640. PMID: 33557685. PMCID: PMC8205947.
van der Plas E, Modi AJ, Li CK, [et al.]. Cognitive Impairment in Survivors of Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treated With Chemotherapy Only. Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. 2021 39(16):1705-1717. PMID: 33886368.
Kesler SR, Sleurs C, McDonald BC, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Brain Imaging in Pediatric Cancer Survivors: Correlates of Cognitive Impairment. Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. 2021 39(16):1775-1785. PMID: 33886371. PMCID: PMC8260924.
van der Plas E, Qiu W, Nieman BJ, [et al.]. Sex-Specific Associations Between Chemotherapy, Chronic Conditions, and Neurocognitive Impairment in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Survivors: A Report From the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2021 113(5):588-596. PMID: 32882041. PMCID: PMC8096369.
Schultz JL, van der Plas E, Langbehn DR, [et al.]. Age-Related Cognitive Changes as a Function of CAG Repeat in Child and Adolescent Carriers of Mutant Huntingtin. Annals of neurology. 2021 89(5):1036-1040. PMID: 33521985. PMCID: PMC8176779.
van der Plas E, Gutmann L, Thedens D, [et al.]. Quantitative muscle MRI as a sensitive marker of early muscle pathology in myotonic dystrophy type 1. Muscle & nerve. 2021 63(4):553-562. PMID: 33462896. PMCID: PMC8442354.
van der Plas E, Koscik TR, Magnotta V, [et al.]. Neurocognitive Features of Motor Premanifest Individuals With Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1. Neurology. Genetics. 2021 7(2):e577. PMID: 33912661. PMCID: PMC8075572.
Koscik TR, van der Plas E, Gutmann L, [et al.]. White matter microstructure relates to motor outcomes in myotonic dystrophy type 1 independently of disease duration and genetic burden. Scientific reports. 2021 11(1):4886. PMID: 33649422. PMCID: PMC7921687.
Langbehn KE, Carlson-Stadler Z, van der Plas E, [et al.]. DMPK mRNA Expression in Human Brain Tissue Throughout the Lifespan. Neurology. Genetics. 2021 7(1):e537. PMID: 33575482. PMCID: PMC7862092.
Solomon MA, van der Plas E, Langbehn KE, [et al.]. Early pediatric chronic kidney disease is associated with brain volumetric gray matter abnormalities. Pediatric research. 2021 89(3):526-532. PMID: 33069166. PMCID: PMC7981243.
van der Plas E, Long JD, Koscik TR, [et al.]. Blood-Based Markers of Neuronal Injury in Adult-Onset Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1. Frontiers in neurology. 2021 12:791065. PMID: 35126292. PMCID: PMC8810511.
Miller JN, Kruger A, Moser DJ, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Cognitive Deficits, Apathy, and Hypersomnolence Represent the Core Brain Symptoms of Adult-Onset Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1. Frontiers in neurology. 2021 12:700796. PMID: 34276551. PMCID: PMC8280288.
Langbehn KE, van der Plas E, Moser DJ, [et al.]. Cognitive function and its relationship with brain structure in myotonic dystrophy type 1. Journal of neuroscience research. 2021 99(1):190-199. PMID: 32056295. PMCID: PMC7872331.
Guo Z, Zhang H, Chen Z, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Fully automated 3D segmentation of MR-imaged calf muscle compartments: Neighborhood relationship enhanced fully convolutional network. Computerized medical imaging and graphics : the official journal of the Computerized Medical Imaging Society. 2021 87:101835. PMID: 33373972. PMCID: PMC7855601.
Johnson C, Langbehn KE, Long JD, [et al., including van der Plas E]. Encoding of facial expressions in individuals with adult-onset myotonic dystrophy type 1. Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology. 2020 42(9):932-940. PMID: 33028165. PMCID: PMC7676461.
Miller JN, van der Plas E, Hamilton M, [et al.]. Variant repeats within the DMPK CTG expansion protect function in myotonic dystrophy type 1. Neurology. Genetics. 2020 6(5):e504. PMID: 32851192. PMCID: PMC7428360.
Langbehn KE, Cochran AM, van der Plas E, [et al.]. Behavioral Deficits in Juvenile Onset Huntington's Disease. Brain sciences. 2020 10(8). PMID: 32796698. PMCID: PMC7464355.