Cara Westmark

Associate Professor of Neurology, School of Medicine and Public Health

Preclinical research on dietary effects on mouse models of neurological disease with a focus on fragile X syndrome, autism and Alzheimer’s disease.

Website

Evidence of Central Nervous System Dysfunction in Association With Soy Protein-Based Infant Formula

Cara J Westmark

Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety. 2026 June 20. pmid:42322656, doi:10.1111/1541-4337.70510
Reassessing Mandatory Folic Acid Fortification for Neural Tube Defect Prevention: Evidence, Uncertainty, and Policy Implications

Cara J Westmark

Nutrients. 2026 June 12. pmid:42280401, pmc:PMC13259054, doi:10.3390/nu18111758
Soy Protein Isolate Affects Blood and Brain Biomarker Expression in a Mouse Model of Fragile X

Brynne Boeck, Yingqing Mao, Ruo-Pan Huang, Cara J Westmark

International journal of molecular sciences. 2025 July 12. pmid:40649914, pmc:PMC12250412, doi:10.3390/ijms26136137
Soy-based purified ingredient diet affects mouse gut permeability and the microbiome in fragile X mice

Cara J Westmark

Frontiers in molecular neuroscience. 2025 April 7. pmid:40190341, pmc:PMC11968763, doi:10.3389/fnmol.2025.1520211
Prophylactic or Poison: The Folic Acid Debate

Cara J Westmark

WMJ : official publication of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin. 2025 February 5. pmid:39908503
Bibliometric Analysis and a Call for Increased Rigor in Citing Scientific Literature: Folic Acid Fortification and Neural Tube Defect Risk as an Example

Brynne Boeck, Cara J Westmark

Nutrients. 2024 August 10. pmid:39125384, pmc:PMC11313885, doi:10.3390/nu16152503
Adult Inception of Ketogenic Diet Therapy Increases Sleep during the Dark Cycle in C57BL/6J Wild Type and Fragile X Mice

Pamela R Westmark, Timothy J Swietlik, Ethan Runde, Brian Corsiga, Rachel Nissan, Brynne Boeck, Ricky Granger, Erica Jennings, Maya Nebbia, Andrew Thauwald, Greg Lyon, Rama K Maganti, Cara J Westmark

International journal of molecular sciences. 2024 June 27. pmid:38928388, pmc:PMC11203515, doi:10.3390/ijms25126679
Effects of Soy Protein Isolate on Fragile X Phenotypes in Mice

Pamela R Westmark, Greg Lyon, Alejandra Gutierrez, Brynne Boeck, Olivia Van Hammond, Nathan Ripp, Nicole Arianne Pagan-Torres, James Brower, Patrice K Held, Cameron Scarlett, Cara J Westmark

Nutrients. 2024 January 23. pmid:38257177, pmc:PMC10819477, doi:10.3390/nu16020284
On-Tissue Spatial Proteomics Integrating MALDI-MS Imaging with Shotgun Proteomics Reveals Soy Consumption-Induced Protein Changes in a Fragile X Syndrome Mouse Model

Min Ma, Qinying Yu, Daniel G Delafield, Yusi Cui, Zihui Li, Miyang Li, Wenxin Wu, Xudong Shi, Pamela R Westmark, Alejandra Gutierrez, Gui Ma, Ang Gao, Meng Xu, Wei Xu, Cara J Westmark, Lingjun Li

ACS chemical neuroscience. 2023 December 18. pmid:38109073, pmc:PMC11127747, doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00497
Toward an understanding of the role of the exposome on fragile X phenotypes

Cara J Westmark

International review of neurobiology. 2023 November 22. pmid:37993176, doi:10.1016/bs.irn.2023.08.007

Dr. Westmark’s basic and translational science research laboratory studies pharmaceutical and dietary interventions for the treatment of fragile X syndrome, autism and Alzheimer’s disease with a focus on the synaptic function of amyloid beta protein precursor (APP) and amyloid-beta. She employs mouse models of neurological disorders and human survey data to correlate promising treatments with improved behavioral (seizure, cognitive, hyperactivity/sleep) and biomarker data.