Ghazaleh Eskandar-Sedighi, PhD Ghazaleh Eskandar-Sedighi, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow, supervised by Mathew Blurton-Jones, PhD, professor of Neurobiology and Behavior in the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences. Dr. Eskander-Sedighi was recently awarded a prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship in Alzheimer’s disease research from the BrightFocus Foundation. Ghazeleh’s research focuses on leveraging human stem cell-derived microglia and chimeric animal models to investigate protective microglial responses in the context of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Her BrightFocus Foundation project specifically aims to take advantage of novel, multi-faceted stem cell and chimeric mouse models to study the impact of the protective microglial ApoE3 Christchurch mutation on…

Clinical research in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has not always included all older adults. For example, most studies include few older Asian American adults. This limits our ability to understand or to treat diseases in all people. The Asian Cohort for Alzheimer's Disease (ACAD) is an international study that aims to fill a gap in Alzheimer's research by exploring the genetic and environmental factors that play a role in the risk for Alzheimer’s disease in Asian American and Asian Canadian populations. ACAD is currently enrolling a cohort of individuals of Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese ancestry with plans to expand to other major…

UCI MIND Director, Joshua Grill, PhD, discusses the strengths and limitations of a recently published article from Washington University on disclosure of biomarker results.   To read the AlzForum summary and comments including Dr. Grill's, click here.

President Boon Ja Yoo Lee (center) awarded with Ellis Island Medal of Honor stands with decorated officers, friends and family who attended the event, including Dr. Hye-Won Shin (center lower left) and Eugene (second from left) and Carol (third from right) Choi. UCI MIND proudly celebrates Boon Ja Yoo Lee, who is a 2025 recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor, for her outstanding contributions to Alzheimer's and dementia caregiving research, medical education, and public advocacy. As the first Korean American member of the UCI MIND Leadership Council, Boon Ja has played a transformative role in elevating the…

Last week was an especially busy one for members of our team at national Alzheimer’s disease research meetings in San Francisco. First, several of our investigators attended the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Centers Spring Directors’ Meeting, a semi-annual gathering of the 35 NIH funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRCs). This meeting serves as an opportunity for ADRC teams to learn about programmatic updates, share research findings, and forge new collaborations.   Dr. Shi accepts a 2025 NACC REC Rising Star Award This year, Xiaoyu Shi, PhD, a UCI ADRC REC Scholar and Associate Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology, was awarded…

As one of the most diverse racial groups in the United States, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations are projected to grow significantly in the next 30 years —especially among older adults—yet they remain drastically underrepresented in aging, dementia, and caregiving research. This creates a gap in our understanding of how cultural, linguistic, and social factors affect health outcomes later in life. To address this disparity, the Collaborative Approach for AANHPI Research and Education (CARE) Registry was developed at UCSF with leadership from Dr. Joshua Grill and others at UCI MIND with the goal to easily connect…

The Daily Mail featured the Blurton-Jones Lab for their recent work on microglia replacement.  Read the article in the Daily Mail here.

Co-author Dr. Ghazaleh Eskandari-Sedighi and postdoctoral scholar in the Blurton-Jones Lab The Blurton-Jones lab, in collaboration with several other prominent research groups in the US and Japan, recently published an article in the journal Nature describing the role of TIM-3, a newly characterized molecule implicated in sporadic AD. The lead researchers on the project, Drs. Oleg Butovsy and Vijay Kuchroo, from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, discovered the signaling pathway through which TIM-3, an immune-checkpoint molecule (encoded by HAVCR2 gene) regulates microglia function. The Blurton-Jones Lab played a critical role in this project by providing the human microglia modeling platform needed to complement…