I am an Advanced Research Fellow interested in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), with a specific focus on the contribution of immunity and inflammation to disease heterogeneity. With a background in genetics, immunity and neurodegenerative disease research, and extensive wet and dry lab experience, I aim to amalgamate diverse expertise to carry out impactful research through high-quality data analysis and data integrity. Bringing together this wide-ranging experience, my research programme is targeted towards increased understanding of the pathogenesis of ALS and FTD employing high quality data practices aiming to improve translation.

I lead the Neurodegeneration Pathobiology Laboratory at the Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia, investigating the molecular mechanisms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), with a focus on TDP-43 pathology.

Dr. Walker is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Neuroscience at Mt. Sinai in NYC, and Co-Director of the Mt. Sinai Neuropathology Brain Bank. She is interested in the mechanisms by which some individuals resist the development of AD neuropathologic change (including primary age-related tauopathy, PART) and mechanisms by which some are resilient against AD neuropathologic change. Her research also focuses on the spatial development of AD neuropathologic change, and how the interplay between amyloid and tau may direct this progression.

Dr. Wang obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degree from the Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, China, in 2011 and 2014, and her Ph.D. from University of Macau, in 2018. There she performed her doctoral work on developing a novel double transgenic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) model expressing both human Aβ1-42 and Tau in C. elegans and characterized the behavioral and molecular changes associated with the AD pathology. After she completed her Ph.D., she joined Chaogu ZHENG's lab at the University of Hong Kong. She is continuously investigating the genetic interaction of gut bacteria with the pathogenesis of PD, the second most prevalent age-related neurodegenerative disease. For that goal, Dr. Wang did the first systematic screen for the pro-neurodegenerative factors in bacteria. This screen identified 38 E. coli genes whose deletion led to the amelioration of PD symptoms. She showed that curli formation can affect -syn in tissue culture and other models of neurodegeneration. Currently, I am continuously investigating some of the newly discovered bacterial metabolites that modulate neurodegeneration, specifically focusing on the role of bacteria-derived vitamin B12 and propionate in Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Wang is a senior scientist with more than 10 years of extensive experience in analyses of human genetic data, quality control of phenotype and genetic data, and bioinformatics annotation of research projects. She obtained her PhD in Medical Science from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Peking, China in 2000 and joined Washington University in 2000 as a medical scientist. In 2011, she obtained MS in Genetic Epidemiology from Washington University and worked as a research statistician in Division of Statistics Genomics before joining Cruchaga’s lab. She has participated in many NIH-funded grants related to the blood pressure, lipids, diabetes, blood cells, kidney function, and cardiometabolic traits. She has involved in multi-ethinic meta-analyses using 1000 genomes imputation and HRC imputation data, rare variants analyses in candidate gene resequencing family data, causal variants identification for aging related traits using linkage and association analyses from WGS data, and alignment, variant calling and QC of WGS data. Since she joined Dr. Cruchaga’s lab in 2021, she has been analyzing proteomic and genomic data for AD, PD and other traits.

Dr. Wang is a neuropathologist and Assistant Professor of Pathology at Duke University Medical Center. He holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurology and is the co-leader of the Duke-UNC Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) neuropathology core. His research is focused on the neuropathological associations and pathogenic mechanisms of AD and other common co-pathologies, particularly limbic-predominant age-related TDP43 encephalopathy (LATE). He is also involved in the development of AD biomarkers for early diagnosis and differentiation from other primary tauopathies. Dr. Wang obtained his MD from National Taiwan University and PhD in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University. He completed his pathology residency and neuropathology fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center prior to joining Duke in 2018.

I am a postdoc research associate working at Dr. Marco Colonna’s lab and particularly interested in learning how the immune system interacts with the central nervous system during neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and how this interplay influences the development and progression of the diseases, attempting to understand the underlying cause of disease and explore the potential treatments. In Colonna lab, I contributed to multiple projects that aided me in investigating the role of the functions of TREM2 in microglia in the mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Prior to join in Colonna lab at 2018, as a graduate student working with Dr. Isabelle Godin at Institute Gustave-Roussy, France, I was trained in the developmental hematopoiesis of myeloid lineage in which my thesis mainly focused on investigating the role of Lyl-1 for primitive macrophages and microglia development. I earned Bachelor’s degree from Jilin Agricultural University, and Master’s degree from Jilin University in China, respectively.

Dr. Yaning Wang is the CEO of Createrna Science & Technology. He was the Director of the Division of Pharmacometrics in the Office of Clinical Pharmacology at FDA until September 2021 and oversaw reviews, research projects, and policy development within the Division of Pharmacometrics for all disease areas. During his 18 years of service at FDA, Dr. Wang was involved in the approval of many new drugs and the publication of numerous guidance. He also received numerous awards, including Award of Merit (highest award at FDA) and FDA Outstanding Service Award. Before joining FDA, Dr. Wang received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics and master’s degree in Statistics from the University of Florida in 2003. He also obtained a master’s degree in Biochemistry (1999) from National Doping Control Center and a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy (1996) from Peking University in China. Dr. Wang served as a committee member for multiple Ph.D. candidates from various universities. He mentored more than 70 former research fellows (visiting scholars, post-doctoral scholars, and Ph.D. candidates) at FDA. Dr. Wang is a regulatory expert lecturer for three new drug development and regulatory courses (American Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences, European Course in Pharmaceutical Medicine, Chinese Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences). He served as a board member of the International Society of Pharmacometrics (ISoP) and is a fellow of ISoP. He is a member of the Advisory Committee for Chinese Pharmacometrics Society and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics. Dr. Wang is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Florida and Clinical Research Institute at Beijing University, and an invited lecturer in the College of Engineering and College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan. Dr. Wang has published over 110 papers and given over 340 presentations at various national and international meetings as an expert in new drug development and regulation.

Dr. Wang is an associate professor in the Department of Neurological Science at Rush University Medical Center. She leads the Human Cell Modeling Group at Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. The overall research goal of Dr. Wang's team is to understand the genetic mechanisms of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and to identify target genes and pathways for therapeutic development. Her team employs a multidisciplinary approach, including single-cell multi-omics, spatial transcriptomics, induced pluripotent stem cell disease modeling, high-content imaging, and CRISPR-based genetic screening. Her team examines cell-type-specific molecular alterations in AD and investigates the functions of AD risk genes and genetic variants. A key focus of her research is the neuroimmune interface at the human brain border. The findings from her team reveal the diverse cell types and states and their functions at the human brain border, providing significant insight into the human border immunity and fibrotic response in normal aging and AD. Prior to Rush, Dr. Wang led a Stem Cell Biology team at Allen Institute for Brain Science. She carried out her Postdoc research on developmental biology and Neuroscience at the University of California San Francisco and earned her MD, PhD in Pediatric Neurology at Shandong University, China.

Global Head of Life Sciences & Healthcare Thought Leadership. As both a journalist and analyst, Mike has been writing, analyzing and commenting on the life sciences industry for more than 35 years. His actionable insights and analysis support pharma, biotech, healthcare and medtech stakeholders gain a deeper understanding of market news and trends. Mike has held editorial and content leadership roles at various publications and organizations across the industry.