Research Team Members
Mini E. Jacob, MD, PhD
Research focuses on the process of disablement among older adults, particularly on the intertwining pathways to mobility disability and dementia. Previous studies evaluated whether behavioral factors like diet and physical activity in early old age can continue to influence health and affect the length of terminal morbidity and disability. Ongoing projects examine patterns and burden of multi-morbidity as a risk factor for disablement, the role of cognitive impairment in the pathway to disability and how a combination of physical and cognitive impairment can influence disablement. Current objectives also include evaluating how physical function measures correlate with markers of Alzheimer’s disease in asymptomatic individuals and identifying mobility measures that reflect brain vascular pathology.
Research Areas
Clinical Research, Population Neuroscience
Contact:
jacobm@uthscsa.edu
Research Profile
Xueqiu Jian, PhD
Research interests include the genetic epidemiology of human complex traits related to brain aging, with an emphasis on the discovery of novel genes influencing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related endophenotypes such as brain imaging markers and measures of neurocognitive function, using integrated multi-omics approaches in large-scale population-based cohort studies. Ongoing work is focused on detecting and characterizing rare copy number variation for Alzheimer’s disease by leveraging the next-generation sequencing technologies. Other interests include functional prediction and annotation of genetic variants using bioinformatics tools.
Some international collaborative efforts include the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program and the International Genomics of Alzheimer’s Project (IGAP).
Research Areas
Population Neuroscience
Contact:
Research Profile
Tiffany Kautz, PhD
Research focuses upon identifying biomarkers for earlier identification of Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative diseases. Actively involved in coordinating research collaborations to further these research interests, including the Markers for Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (MarkVCID) and Cognitively Healthy Nonagenarians in the Cross Cohort Collaboration (CCC). Also serves as the creator and coordinator of the Biggs Biobank, a comprehensive repository of biofluids and tissues from a variety of neurodegenerative disorders as well as cognitively healthy controls.
Research Areas
Clinical Research
James D. Lechleiter, PhD
Dr. Lechleiter’s laboratory is interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms of protection during drug addition, ischemic stress, stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and age-associated neurodegenerative diseases. Most strategies to reduce, slow and repair the severity of brain injuries and diseases have focused almost exclusively on neurons. We have focused our research on the potential of astrocytes as a novel theurapeutic avenue for brain treatment. Astrocytes are known to play a crucial role in supporting and protecting neuronal function and in modulating brain energy metabolism. A therapeutic strategy that increases energy production is inherently robust, since the number of potential neuroprotective processes that benefit are significantly higher than a single molecular target.
Research Areas
Biological & Innovative Research
Contact:
Lechleiter@uthscsa.edu