Research Summary
Our research program has been focused on studying the regulation of brain lipid composition and metabolism by ApoE isoforms in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) pathogenesis. One of our current research projects is to develop preclinical candidates and new chemical scaffolds for AD therapies. More importantly, we will investigate mechanistic actions of newly developed drug candidates in AD which will shed lights on understanding pathways underlying ApoE-associated AD pathogenesis. In parallel, another major lab focus is to understand the mechanisms underlying ApoE4-associated impairment in phospholipid homeostasis and AD development. We recently characterized a novel regulatory role of a microRNA in the ApoE4-PIP 2 -synj1 pathway. Our current effort is to further evaluate therapeutic and diagnostic implications of thismiRNA in AD. Other projects in the lab are focusing on exploring the interaction between ApoE4 and other risk factors such as traumatic brain injury and female sex in AD development and progression. We also work on investigating the role of ApoE isoforms in injury models such as spinal cord injury. Our research group has close collaboration with Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Department of Neuroscience, Department of Pharmacological Studies in Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.