HPAN Labs

Representing fourteen academic departments and both campuses of Washington University Read More

HPAN Faculty

Each faculty member of the Hope Center Program on Protein Aggregation & Neurodegeneration (HPAN) has an active research program and/or collaboration to investigate the role of protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disease.  In addition, HPAN was chosen by the Dean to be a BioMed 21 Interdisciplinary Research Center, with an award of space in the new BJC Institute of Health and a financial commitment.

  • Beau Ances MD, PhD, MSc

    Daniel J. Brennan, MD Professor of Neurology

    Therapeutic Strategies for HIV Associated Neurocognitive Impairment Read More

  • Yuna Ayala, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Saint Louis University

    Role of RNA processing and TDP-43 function in neurodegeneration Read More

  • Randall Bateman, MD

    Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology

    Alzheimer’s Disease: Pathophysiology, biomarkers, predictive diagnostics and treatments Read More

  • Kendall Blumer, PhD

    Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology

    Signal transduction in the cardiovascular, nervous and visual systems

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  • Thomas Brett, PhD

    Associate Professor of Medicine

    Investigate the molecular mechanisms of inflammatory signaling in diseases hallmarked by chronic inflammation Read More

  • Thomas Burris, PhD

    Alumni Endowed Professor and Vice President of Research at St. Louis College of Pharmacy

    Pharmacology and chemical biology of nuclear receptors (NRs) Read More

  • Anil Cashikar, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

    Oxysterols in Alzheimer’s disease Read More

  • Zhou-Feng Chen, PhD

    Russell D. and Mary B. Shelden Professor of Anesthesiology

    Molecular and cellular mechanisms of itch sensation

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  • John Cirrito, PhD

    Associate Professor of Neurology

    Relationship between synaptic activity and amyloid-beta metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease Read More

  • Marco Colonna, MD

    Robert Rock Belliveau MD Professor of Pathology and Immunology

    Innate immune responses in neurodegeneration Read More

  • Carlos Cruchaga, PhD

    Professor of Psychiatry

    Genetic and multi-omic approaches to identify novel variants, genes and pathways implicated on neurodegeneration, with the ultimate goal of understanding the biology of neurodegenerative diseases Read More

  • Gus Davis, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neurology

    Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of protein aggregation and neurodegeneration in Parkinson disease and dementia with Lewy bodies Read More

  • Marc Diamond, MD

    Adjunct Professor of Neurology

    Therapeutic Mechanisms in Human Disease: Polyglutamine Disease Pathogensis and Protein Misfolding in Tauopathy Read More

  • Abhinav Diwan, MD

    Associate Professor of Medicine

    Regulation of Lysosome function in Cellular Physiology and Pathology Read More

  • Anne Fagan, PhD

    Professor of Neurology

    Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma biomarkers of early stage Alzheimer’s Disease Read More

  • Carl Frieden, PhD

    Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics

    Protein folding, structure Read More

  • Gilbert Gallardo, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neurology

    Discovering mechanisms of neurodegeneration for potential therapeutic intervention Read More

  • Brian Gordon, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Radiology

    Using in vivo neuroimaging and biofluid measurements in humans to better understand the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease Read More

  • Dennis Hallahan, MD

    Elizabeth H and James S McDonnell III Distinguished Professor of Medicine

    The mechanisms of cell death in normal tissues during cancer therapy Read More

  • Edward Han, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neuroscience

    Identifying the role of neurotoxic protein aggregates on neuronal network activity and cell health using in vivo imaging Read More

  • Tamara Hershey, PhD

    Professor of Psychiatry

    Clinical and cognitive neuroscience Read More

  • Didier Hodzic, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences

    Role of LINC complexes (Linkers of the Nucleoskeleton to the Cytoskeleton) in nucleokinesis and neuronal migration Read More

  • David Holtzman, MD

    Andrew B & Gretchen P Jones Professor of Neurology

    Cellular/Molecular/Biomarker studies of Alzheimer’s Disease and neonatal brain injury Read More

  • Meredith Jackrel, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Chemistry

    Engineering and applying protein-remodeling factors to counter neurodegenerative disease Read More

  • Sanjay Jain, MD, PhD

    Associate Professor of Medicine

    GFL-Ret mediated mechanisms in the development, repair and regeneration of the nervous and urogenital systems Read More

  • Celeste Karch, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

    Molecular mechanisms underlying tauopathies Read More

  • Paul Kotzbauer, MD, PhD

    Associate Professor of Neurology

    Mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease and related disorders Read More

  • Alexxai Kravitz, PhD

    Associate Professor of Psychiatry

    Basal ganglia contributions to movement Read More

  • Geraldine Kress, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neurology

    Role of circadian function on memory during aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression Read More

  • Jin-Moo Lee, MD, PhD

    Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology

    Understanding Mechanisms of Neurologic Disease Read More

  • Mingjie Li, MD, PhD

    Associate Professor of Neurology

    Developing viral vectors for applications in neuroscience Read More

  • David Limbrick, MD, PhD

    Professor of Neurosurgery

    Neuronal membrane physiology, patch-clamp electrophysiology, CSF proteomics, hydrocephalus, neuroprosthetics, brain tumor biology Read More

  • Brendan Lucey, MD

    Assistant Professor of Neurology

    Understanding the relationship between sleep, the amyloid beta diurnal pattern, and Alzheimer’s disease Read More

  • Moe Mahjoub, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Medicine

    Mechanisms of cell-cell signaling in normal development and neurodegenerative disease Read More

  • Soe Soe Mar, MD

    Professor of Neurology

    Pediatric multiple sclerosis and other white matter diseases, and pediatric migraine Read More

  • Steven Mennerick, PhD

    Professor of Psychiatry

    Physiology of glutamate and GABA neurotransmission in the CNS Read More

  • Timothy Miller, MD, PhD

    David Clayson Professor of Neurology

    New, effective, and safe treatments for neurodegenerative diseases Read More

  • Liviu Mirica, PhD

    William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois

    Development of therapeutic and imaging chemical agents for Alzheimer’s disease; Design of specific inhibitors of histone demethylases Read More

  • John Morris, MD

    Harvey A & Dorismae Hacker Friedman Distinguished Professor of Neurology

    Establishing phenotypes for inherited forms of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias Read More

  • Erik Musiek, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neurology

    Aging, oxidative stress, and circadian clock genes in neurodegenerative diseases Read More

  • Andrew Nguyen, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Medicine, Saint Louis University

    Strategies for increasing progranulin levels as potential therapies for progranulin-deficient FTD Read More

  • David Ornitz, MD, PhD

    Alumni Endowed Professor of Developmental Biology

    Neuronal development, regeneration, physiology Read More

  • Daniel Ory, MD

    Alan A and Edith L Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine

    Molecular basis of Niemann-Pick C disease and the regulation of NPC1 and NPC2 genes in cholesterol homeostasis Read More

  • Rohit Pappu, PhD

    Edwin H. Murty Professor of Engineering

    Mechanisms of aggregation and neurodegeneration in polyglutamine expansion disorders, specifically Huntington’s disease Read More

  • Steven Paul, MD

    Professor of Psychiatry

    Understanding how apoE contributes to the clearance and metabolism of Aβ in Alzheimer’s disease Read More

  • David Perlmutter, MD

    Professor of Pediatrics, Executive Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs and Dean

    Cellular mechanisms to clear misfolded proteins, and therapies to minimize toxicity by stimulating degradation of misfolded proteins Read More

  • Joel Perlmutter, MD

    Elliot Stein Professor of Neurology

    Pharmacology, physiology and pathophysiology of basal ganglia and movement disorders Read More

  • Richard Perrin, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Pathology & Immunology

    Novel cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis, and staging of neurodegenerative diseases
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  • Alan Pestronk, MD

    Professor of Neurology

    Diagnosis, pathogenesis and treatment of immune, hereditary and degenerative neuromuscular disorders Read More

  • Steve Petersen, PhD

    James S McDonnell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience

    Behavioral and fMRI studies of attention and cognitive development Read More

  • Marcus Raichle, MD

    Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine

    Functional brain imaging with positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance Read More

  • Mark Sands, PhD

    Professor of Medicine

    Pathophysiology and novel therapies for lysosomal storage diseases Read More

  • Robert Schmidt, MD, PhD

    Professor of Pathology & Immunology

    Pathogenetic mechanisms of diabetic and age-related autonomic neuropathy Read More

  • Joy Snider, MD, PhD

    Professor of Neurology

    Mechanisms of protein degradation and intracellular calcium homeostasis in neurodegenerative disorders Read More

  • Amber Stratman, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology

    Mechanisms regulating blood vessel formation, stabilization, and blood flow sensing during development and disease Read More

  • Heather True, PhD

    Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology

    Protein misfolding and aggregation of prion proteins Read More

  • Fumihiko Urano, MD, PhD

    Samuel E Schechter Professor of Medicine

    Patient-based therapeutic development for Wolfram syndrome, the link between endoplasmic reticulum and neurodegeneration Read More

  • Andrei Vlassenko, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Radiology

    Advanced neuroimaging techniques in aging and neurodegenerative disorders Read More

  • Yong Wang, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology

    Developing and applying MRI methods for quantification of pathological changes in neurodegeneration diseases Read More

  • Conrad (Chris) Weihl, MD, PhD

    Professor of Neurology

    Protein degradation pathways and their relation to aging, muscle weakness and neurodegeneration Read More

  • David Wozniak, PhD

    Professor of Psychiatry

    Role of NMDA receptors in neuropathologic changes and cognitive decline Read More

  • Qin Yang, MD, PhD

    Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology

    Understand neural cell reprogramming/regeneration and generate “safe” neural cells for neurological disorder treatment Read More

  • Hiroko Yano, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery

    Molecular pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases; Epigenetic regulation of gene expression in Huntington’s disease Read More

  • Andrew Yoo, PhD

    Associate Professor of Developmental Biology

    MicroRNA-mediated neuronal reprogramming and chromatin remodeling Read More

  • Gregory Zipfel, MD

    Professor of Neurosurgery

    Role of cerebral amyloid angiopathy on cerebral blood flow, cerebral ischemia, cerebral hemorrhage, and dementia; Pathophysiology and novel therapeutic approaches for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage Read More

HPAN Publications