Affiliated Labs

Research is focused on GWAS, Single Cell RNA-seq/ATAC, Spacial transcriptomics, Epigenetics, Proteomics.

The Gordon Neuroimaging Lab focuses on understanding the complexities of the aging brain. This includes studies of both healthy aging as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease. We integrate cognitive testing alongside advanced neuroimaging techniques, including MRI (volumetric, DTI, and fMRI) and PET imaging (amyloid, tau, and FDG). Our research crosses multiple domains and is at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, psychology, neurology and radiology.

Our interest lies in elucidating the function of various brain macrophages in neuropathology and the molecular mechanisms driving these phenotypes. We utilize a variety of techniques including genomics, stem cell modeling and genetic mouse models.

Abhi is an Instructor in Dept. of Psychiatry in Dr. Celeste Karch’s laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry. During her PhD, Abhi elucidated the regulatory role of cytokine signaling pathways in the function of lipid antigen presenting molecule CD1d and restricted innate lymphocytes, Natural Killer T (NKT) cells. For her postdoctoral work, Abhi chose to work in neuroimmunology, whereby her initial work was focused at understanding mechanisms involved in CD4+ T cell-mediated motor neuron survival in peripheral nerve injury and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Thereafter, Abhi carried out preclinical testing of antisense oligonucleotides against α2-Na+/K+ ATPase, which is upregulated in astrocytes and contributes to non-cell autonomous neurodegeneration in ALS. Her current work aims to understand TREM2 signaling in neurodegenerative diseases in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-differentiated microglial cells. She has experience in different forms of scientific writing including grants, manuscripts, review articles and is an ad-hoc reviewer for multiple journals.Abhi is an Instructor in Dept. of Psychiatry in Dr. Celeste Karch’s laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry. During her PhD, Abhi elucidated the regulatory role of cytokine signaling pathways in the function of lipid antigen presenting molecule CD1d and restricted innate lymphocytes, Natural Killer T (NKT) cells. For her postdoctoral work, Abhi chose to work in neuroimmunology, whereby her initial work was focused at understanding mechanisms involved in CD4+ T cell-mediated motor neuron survival in peripheral nerve injury and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Thereafter, Abhi carried out preclinical testing of antisense oligonucleotides against α2-Na+/K+ ATPase, which is upregulated in astrocytes and contributes to non-cell autonomous neurodegeneration in ALS. Her current work aims to understand TREM2 signaling in neurodegenerative diseases in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-differentiated microglial cells. She has experience in different forms of scientific writing including grants, manuscripts, review articles and is an ad-hoc reviewer for multiple journals.

Formation, development, and application of genetic, genomic and bioinformatic methods to better anlayze and integrate exome and genome sequencing, SNP array, RNA-sequencing ,epigenmoic, metabolomic and protemomic data.

The goal of the Karch lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive neurodegenerative diseases using functional genomic and stem cell approaches. Dr. Karch has built a somatic and stem cell collection containing a series of deeply clinically characterized cell lines from individuals carrying genetic drivers of Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease

Applying statistical, machine learning, deep learning and data mining approaches on diverse biomedical dataset integration and interpretation, to solve the challenges in bioinformatics, system biology, and image informatics

Our long-term research interest is to develop innovative computational tools, deep learning models, conduct large-scale integrative analyses, and apply advanced (epi)genomic techniques to gain a comprehensive understanding of gene regulation in mammalian models and human diseases, particularly in brain tumors and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Epidemiological studies show a rapid increase in dementia in Hispanic populations. However, there is little understanding of disease onset, progression, and biomarker trajectories in Latino populations. Jorge’s aims to understand genetic versus social determinants that drive Alzheimer’s disease in Latino populations

Understanding the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease, specifically as it relates to the role of cholesterol metabolism in modulating the immune response in animal models of Alzheimer disease pathology.