RESEARCHERS

Wilma received her PH.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and carried out her postdoctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Dr. Wasco was part of an international collaborative effort that identified the familial Alzheimer’s disease associated presenilin 1 (PS1) and presenilin 2 (PS2) genes. In addition, her

Professor Tsai is a leader in understanding the molecular pathophysiology of neurological disorders affecting cognition. Her work has brought new mechanisms for learning, memory and neurodegeneration to light and suggests new paths for combatting age-related memory loss. Landmark discoveries include pinpointing major genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease to immune genes,

Dr. Tesco’s group has shown how brain cell death caused by strokes or head injuries can lead to the production of amyloid-beta through the dysregulation of BACE levels in the brain. She identified a novel mechanism of regulation of BACE levels and activity by the trafficking molecule GGA3 (golgi-localized gamma-ear-containing

Dr. Stevens is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in the FM Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children’s Hospital and an institute member of the Broad Institute. Her research seeks to understand the mechanisms that regulate the development and elimination of synapses by focusing on how microglia and immune-related

Dr. Newton studies the molecular mechanisms underlying how cells process information in health and in disease. Cellular homeostasis depends on precise control of the balance between “go” and “stop” signals controlled by protein kinases and protein phosphatases, enzymes with opposing functions.  Deregulation of this balance lead diseases to pathophysiological states, driving

Dr. Nedergaard is Professor of Neurosurgery and Co-Director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in Rochester, NY. She is also Professor of Glial Cell Biology and Co-Director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her multiple interests

Dr. Mandelkow studied medicine in Heidelberg and Hamburg, followed by a 3-year internship at university hospitals in Hamburg and Heidelberg, and then a doctoral dissertation at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, with research on enzyme kinetics of the motor protein myosin. She then performed postdoctoral research at

“The scariest thing about this disease is that pathology starts 15–20 years before clinical symptoms appear. Early detection is critical, as diseases are typically easier to slow down in the early stages. This is one of the reasons why I encourage women to get into neuroscience; we need all the

Dr. Kovacs has over fifteen years of molecular and cell biology research experience. She joined the Genetics and Aging Research Unit in 1993 as a postdoctoral fellow, to study the role of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in Alzheimer’s disease. She has since co-authored over fifteen original articles in peer-reviewed

Professor Nancy Ip received her PH.D. degree in Pharmacology from Harvard Medical School, after which she held the position of Senior Staff Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in New York. Since joining HKUST, she has served as Head of the Department of Biochemistry, Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute, and