contributor to this process. They currently focus on identi- fying genetic factors that alter known Alzheimer’s disease risk factor genes, as well as discovering new risk factors for the disease. One of the genes that the lab has focused on in a recent study is MAPT , which encodes for tau protein. To determine changes in MAPT regulation that may con- tribute to Alzheimer’s disease pathology, researchers need to understand MAPT and tau protein at baseline in individ- uals without Alzheimer’s disease. Many datasets useful for understanding gene regulation for other genes are not helpful for MAPT , because its function is in brain cells that often lack the necessary gene regulation datasets. Cochran’s lab is facing the challenge and develop- ing its own datasets to study tau. They are taking many cutting-edge computational and experimental approaches to understand which regulatory elements are necessary and sufficient for tau expression. One approach the lab is widely using is cell culture of neural precursor cells, differentiated neurons, and inhibitory and excitatory neuron cultures.
NEW HUDSONALPHA INSTITUTE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY FACULTY INVESTIGATOR, NICK COCHRAN, PHD
In September 2021, HudsonAlpha added another neurogenomics lab to its roster, led by Faculty Investigator Nick Cochran, PhD. Cochran is a familiar face at HudsonAlpha, having begun his journey as a postdoctoral fellow in Rick Myers’s lab in 2015. The Cochran lab investigates gene regulation processes involved in Alzhei- mer’s disease development and progres- sion. One of the genes that the lab focuses largely on currently is MAPT, the gene that encodes for tau protein which is involved in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. He also helps foster collaborations with international groups like the Research Dementia Latin America (ReDLat) consor- tium that aims to identify the unique genet- ic and socioeconomic/social determinants of health that drive Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Latin America. Cochran earned a PhD in neurobiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2015 and a bachelor of chemical engineering from Auburn University in 2010.
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