The aging of the brain is a cause of cognitive decline in the elderly and the major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Despite this central role in disease, the molecular underpinnings of brain aging are poorly understood.

The overall goal of the Yankner lab is to achieve a greater understanding of the molecular basis of brain aging and how normal aging transitions to neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and more recently, chronic traumatic encephalopathy associated with concussion and sports injury.  We take diverse approaches to investigate brain aging and disease, with studies ranging from worm and mouse models to induced progenitor stem cell models and informatic analysis of the human brain. This is accompanied by a broad spectrum of collaborative projects.

Some current projects in the lab include studies of transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in the aging brain, with explorations of the gene network controlled by the master developmental regular REST/NRSF in aging brain and the role of genomic instability in aging and neurodegenerative disease. We are also deeply involved in the search for novel therapeutic approaches to Alzheimer’s disease, often performing genetic screens for novel molecular targets in worms and neuronal cells in culture and then investigating these targets further in animal models and the human brain.