Biological & Innovative Researchers
Habil Zare, Ph.D.
Habil Zare, Ph.D. is a computational biologist. A current exemplar project in Dr. Zare’s lab is integrative gene network analysis, inspired by biological processes in a cell often requiring intricate coordination between multiple genes and proteins. The goal of the project is to infer useful biological and clinical information from large networks of thousands of genes. His studies have developed an integrative approach to analyze co-expression and DNA methylation patterns in a single model. Each node in this network represents a gene, and the connections (edges) are weighted based on the gene expression and DNA methylation data, i.e., the more associated two genes are, the more weight is assigned to the connection between them. This approach has led to identification of robust biomarkers that are useful in prognostication and diagnosis of several cancers. Studies also include investigating the applications of this approach in the study of dementia including: mechanisms of resilience to Alzheimer’s disease, prognostication, identification of subtypes of dementia based on molecular factors and variation in phenotypes, delineation of molecular differences and the common pathways, between subtypes, etc. Additional research covers ways to integrate other omics data into the network including micro RNA and genomic data. Lab collaborates with other scholars at the Biggs Institute through data analysis and study design.Research Areas
Biological & Innovative Research
Contact:
zare@uthscsa.edu
Research Profile
Jamie Walker, M.D., Ph.D.
Studies focus on dementia and successful aging. “Successful agers” are resistant or resilient to the Alzheimer-type neuropathologic changes that develop in many people as they age. Understanding the process of resistance or resilience to these neuropathologic changes in successful agers will bring insight into mechanisms of prevention and ideally lead o the development of therapeutic interventions for dementia.Research Areas
Biological & Innovative Research, Clinical Research
Contact:
Research Profile
Meghan Short, Ph.D.
Meghan Short, Ph.D., is a biostatistician and bioinformatician. Dr. Short’s research interests involve the use and integration of omics data to understand complex biological underpinnings of Alzheimer’s Disease and brain aging. Current and proposed projects include identifying networks of proteins in the plasma proteome in older adults and relating them to brain MRI measures and incident dementia, and examining changes in the gut microbiome related to neurodegeneration. She has also been a statistical analyst for a range of epidemiological studies of cardiovascular risk factors and has developed statistical methods for clinical trials and epidemiological studies with clustered binary outcomes.Research Areas
Biological & Innovative Research, Population Neuroscience
Sudha Seshadri, M.D., D.M.
Dr. Seshadri is a senior investigator of the Framingham Heart Study since 1998, leading the study’s clinical neurology and neurogenesis cores since 2005. She is the principal investigator on 8 NIH funded grants and is an investigator, subcontract principal investigator and consultant to 12 additional grants. She has served on the Editorial Board for Neurology and Stroke, chaired a standing NIH Study Section (Neurology, Aging and Musculoskeletal Epidemiology) and has over 320 peer-reviewed publications (H-index 79, i10 index 209), including 57 in 2016. Dr. Seshadri helped to establish the neurology phenotype working group within the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium. She lectures extensively, nationally and internationally, on Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and the genetics of stroke and vascular brain injury.Research Areas
Biological & Innovative Research, Clinical Research
Contact:
Research Profile