Niran Hadad, PhD

Dr. Niran Hadad completed a BS in Biology (magna cum laude) and received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for work on the epigenetic control of aging in the Freeman lab. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he joined Dr. Catherine Kaczorowski’s Lab as a postdoctoral fellow at The Jackson Laboratory. Niran has already been recognized for his innovative research and leadership, mentoring several trainees on methods for discovery of genetic modifiers of AD and earning senior authorship (Ouellette et al., 2020). More recently, Niran has focused on how an individual's genetic risk for developing a sleep disorder may cause or exacerbate the development of AD dementia. Since disrupted sleep is associated with both the build-up of classic AD neuropathologies (amyloid and tau in the brain and cerebral spinal fluid) and cognitive deficits, Niran will test the hypothesis that genetic factors that predispose an individual to chronic sleep loss also contribute significantly to the development of AD pathology and dementia. This finding would be highly significant because identifying these genes may reveal novel therapeutic approaches for AD. His long-term goal is to pursue research is to test whether identified genetic and epigenetic variants can be targeted to delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease associated cognitive impairment and dementia as principle investigator of his own research laboratory.