Vilas Menon, PhD

Assistant Professor and Ludwig Scholar, Department of Neurology

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Host(s): Carol Mason (Faculty)

Molecular heterogeneity in AD at the cellular and individual level

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), while being the most prevalent cause of dementia in aged individuals, is a complex, multifactorial disease for which effective treatments are still in the early stages. By examining post-mortem brain tissue from large cohorts of individuals with and without diagnoses of AD, coupled with pathological and ante-mortem clinical characterization, we have identified key molecular signatures associated broadly with the disease, including specific microglial and astrocytic profiles. In addition, by examining brain tissue from individuals of different racial and ethnic backgrounds using single-nucleus transcriptomics, we can prioritize specific cell types and states that show conserved associations with AD phenotypes. Finally, using large cohort data, we also characterize putative subgroups of individuals with dementia whose molecular profiles are distinct, lending further credence to the notion of molecular subtypes of disease that may pave the way for combinatorial or precision cellular therapies.

Relevant Publications: 

Cellular communities reveal trajectories of brain ageing and Alzheimer's disease 

Cell type-specific associations with Alzheimer's Disease conserved across racial and ethnic groups

Tuesdays@10 is a signature Zuckerman Institute initiative that aims to expose researchers at all levels to high-quality science and stimulate scientific discourse. The speakers featured in this series represent various fields and techniques in neuroscience, and include invited guests of the Columbia Neuroscience Seminars, the Zuckerman Institute's Local Circuits Affiliates Program, and other special seminar series through a combined, collaborative effort of one or more of the following: Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, the Center for Precision Psychiatry, the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, the Department of Neuroscience, the Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior and the Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, and with support from the Kavli Institute for Brain Science. 

More information and a full schedule can be found here.