Neurodegenerative Disease Research
Neurodegenerative diseases are among the most complex challenges in contemporary medical science, with decades of research yet to provide a clear path to a cure. Leveraging cutting-edge technology and emphasizing collaborative scientific efforts, the NYGC seeks to change this landscape in dramatic ways.
NYGC ALS Consortium
The Center for Genomics of Neurodegenerative Disease (CGND), led by NYGC’s Hemali Phatnani, PhD, has established a global ALS Consortium with 45 member institutions worldwide. The CGND has also contributed to ALS research with the development of genomic technologies for the study of RNA transcription, single-cell transcription, and spatial transcriptomics.
CGND researchers, working with global collaborators, have utilized new technologies to create a multidimensional atlas of gene expression in ALS that provides new insights into the mechanisms that contribute to disease onset and progression. These breakthrough findings advance the understanding of disease mechanisms in all neurodegenerative diseases that share common pathways with ALS, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. The groundbreaking study was published in Science, and the atlas is now available to the scientific community for further explorations via an interactive data portal. For links to the study, portal, and more, click here.
Latest News & Publications
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bioRxiv · November 14, 2024 · Preprint
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Muscle & Nerve · September 18, 2024
Access for ALL in ALS: A large-scale, inclusive, collaborative consortium to unlock the molecular and genetic mechanisms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
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Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology · September 16, 2024
Glia in Neurodegenerative Disease.
NYGC Neurodegenerative Disease Working Group
The NYGC is leveraging the success of the Center for Genomics of Neurodegenerative Disease (CGND) to extend our work across a range of neurodegenerative diseases that have pathways in common with ALS, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. The Neurodegenerative Disease Working Group is co-led by Thomas Lehner, PhD, MPH, NYGC and Hemali Phatnani, PhD, NYGC and Columbia University, with the objective of bringing together researchers from our Institutional Founding Members, NYGC faculty and senior faculty, NYGC technology development and computational scientists, and affiliate members to build partnerships and programs to better understand the biological underpinnings and molecular mechanisms driving neurodegenerative disease.
Leadership
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Hemali Phatnani, PhD
Core Faculty Member, Director, Center for Genomics of Neurodegenerative Disease, NYGCAssistant Professor of Neurological Sciences (in Neurology), Columbia University Phatnani Lab Neurodegenerative Disease