Molecular Heterogeneity in Alzheimer’s Disease at the Cellular and Individual Level

Abstract

Vilas Menon is currently an Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences in the Division of Neuroimmunology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. His lab applies computational and experimental methods to generate and analyze large-scale molecular data in the context of neurological disease. In particular, his group investigates signatures of differential vulnerability and resistance at both the cell type and individual level in neurodegenerative diseases (including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) and neuroimmune diseases (such as Multiple Sclerosis). He obtained his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Northwestern University, where he studied signal integration and information processing in neurons. Prior to joining Columbia, he spent several years as a scientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, WA, and as a Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus, developing new analytical methods for large-scale single-cell and bulk molecular data analysis.

Figure highlighting differences in the proportion of GPNMB+ microglia in the Superior Temporal Gyrus in individuals of multiple racial and ethnic backgrounds (W-NL: White, Non-Latin, AA-NL: African-American, Non-Latin, L: Latin of any race) with distinct clinical diagnoses (NCI: Non-Impaired, MCI: Mild Cognitive Impairment, AD: Alzheimer’s Disease dementia)