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Dr. Vivek Swarup featured on ALZFORUM

By July 20, 2021Commentary, In the News

UCI MIND researcher, Dr. Vivek Swarup is gaining significant attention for his work on glial cell gene expression in AD.

His lab’s research, published in Nature Genetics 2 weeks ago was recently featured on the heavily trafficked Alzheimer’s research website, Alzforum.com – a testament to the impact his research has on the broader AD community. Dr. Swarup used prefrontal cortex brain tissue from UCI ADRC brain donors to examine differences in glial cell gene transcription between healthy and AD brains.   He found that the areas in the DNA above important AD risk genes, responsible for expressing those genes, were different in people with AD.

To read more about Dr. Swarup’s research, click here or read more in a previous blog post.

 


Vivek Swarup, PhD

About Vivek Swarup, PhD

My long-term research interests lie in comprehensive understanding of the role of transcriptional and regulatory pathways in human neurodegenerative diseases encompassing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). I use a systems biology and integrative genomics approach to gain deep insights into disease biology. At UCI, I am working closely in an integrated environment to understand the genetics and transcriptomics of neurodegenerative disorders and identify novel effective therapeutic targets for patients. During my postdoctoral training, I have gained experience in multi-omics analysis and used genomic approaches to unravel novel biology and targets in neurodegenerative dementia. I have also used systems biology approaches to unravel splicing regulators in Autism. I also have significant experience in using standard molecular biology and cellular neuroscience techniques as reflected by my PhD and master’s work. For my PhD degree, I moved to Canada and was awarded pre-doctoral FQRNT fellowship (awarded by FQRNT, Ministry of Education, Quebec, Canada to exceptional international PhD students) to pursue my research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD) in Prof. Jean-Pierre Julien’s lab, Quebec, Canada. I developed a new TDP-43 transgenic mouse model of ALS and discovered that TDP- 43 acts as a co-activator of p65 subunit of NF-kB and that deregulation of TDP-43 in ALS causes hyperactivated p65 response, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. I have also discovered novel biomarker for ALS, for which a US Patent was granted.