Computational Discovery to Accelerate Neurodegenerative Disease Research

There is a major opportunity to use computational biology to accelerate discovery across neurodegenerative disease research. While extraordinary technological progress has revealed large numbers of genes and pathways associated with neurodegeneration, to get at the mechanisms that explain pathogenesis and identify therapeutic innovations requires many labor-intensive experiments. In my lab, we develop novel statistical methods, employing probabilistic modeling and machine learning to find patterns in genomic data that allow us to discover the 3D protein interactions, RNA complexes, and — most critically for neurodegenerative disease pathophysiology — their dynamics, alternative conformations, and propensity to form structures that may progress to fibrils. We are excited to collaborate and bring together research from clinicians, molecular biologists, and geneticists to build tools to transform our ability to address these devastating processes.