Ingraham studies hormone-responsive nodes in the brain. In particular, she is interested in
estrogen's signalling in the brain and how this impacts female metabolism. She has studied the influence of estrogen-sensitive brain cells on bone density. Over two million people suffer from
osteoporosis, with post-menopausal women being particularly vulnerable to the condition. The declining levels of estrogen after menopause can cause bones to become increasingly porous and fragile. Ingraham manipulated neurons in the
hypothalamus, and found that genetically deleting the estrogen receptor caused female animals to gain weight and become less active. She identified that these heavier mice had increases in bone density of up to 800%. Together with her collaborators, Ingraham investigated estrogen-sensitive brain cells in the
arcuate nucleus, and proposed that estrogen typically signals these neurons to slow bone growth. By deleting these receptors, Ingraham showed that it was possible to reduce this shift. The same was not true in male mice, where manipulating the estrogen signalling had no impact. She identified that the
herbicide atrazine can activate gene networks. Beyond the brain, Ingraham has studied sex-specific differences in gut-brain signalling pathways, in an effort to understand why women are more susceptible to intestinal
visceral pain syndromes. Another primary focus of Ingraham's academic activities is directed towards the most vulnerable population in our nation's biomedical educational pipeline – women and minority postdoctoral fellows. As such, she serves as the director of the NIGMS-IRACDA Program at UCSF, which provides a cohort of 15–20 scholars with individualized mentoring and career development plans for future success at R1 and R3 institutions. == Awards and honors ==