Dr. Merina Varghese is an Assistant Professor in the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer’s Disease. Her research seeks to reveal how the molecular and morphological features defining types, states, and microenvironment of cells drive regional vulnerability of neurons to aging and neuropsychiatric diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. Her approach combines deep expertise in disease biology with novel tools for spatial imaging of proteins and metabolites to discover potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
Before joining the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, she completed her postdoctoral training here in the Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience, investigating metabolic and synaptic changes underlying regional vulnerability to disease in transgenic rodent models of Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Phelan-McDermid syndrome. During her Ph.D. training in Jadavpur University, India, she studied the role of mitochondria in Parkinson’s disease using an in vitro model. For more information, visit the Varghese lab website.