Jie Gao

Dr. Jie Gao's Photo

Jie Gao

Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience

Jie.Gao@osumc.edu

(614) 293-8915

614 Biomedical Research Tower
460 W. 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

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Areas of Expertise

  • Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration
  • Neuropathology
  • Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience

Education

  • Postdoctoral Training: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles
  • PhD: University of Pittsburgh

Current Research Description

Mammalian brain is a highly lipid-rich organ, and lipid homeostasis is essential for normal neural development, maintenance of proper synaptic function, and recovery from brain injury. On the other hand, dysregulated lipid signaling in brain has been implicated in many neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). The risk of developing AD is strongly influenced by genetic variations of genes, such as ApoE, ABCA7, and TREM2, which are involved in brain lipid transport, sensing and cellular uptake.

The goal of my lab is to study the fundamental changes in the brain lipid composition, distribution, and signaling associated with aging and Alzheimer's disease; and the mechanisms through which these changes affect cellular functions in the process of aging and the pathogenesis of AD. Ongoing projects include: 1) the role of ApoE receptors pathway in AD pathogenesis; 2) the role of lipid signaling in regulating microglia functions; 3) Changes in lipidome composition and remodeling in aging and neurodegenerative disease. My lab uses multidisciplinary approaches that combines biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, lipidomic analysis, transgenic animal models, next-generation sequencing and data analysis.

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