NIH Director's Seminar: Unleashing the potential of genomics to unravel Lewy body dementia and related diseases

Friday, January 10, 2025, 12:00 to 1:00pm

Wilson Hall, NIH Building 1; and NIH videocast

The fourth lecture lecture in the 2024-2025 NIH Director's Seminar Series will be presented by IRP senior investigator Sonja Scholz, M.D., Ph.D.

In this presentation, Dr. Scholz will discuss her lab's approach to tackling complex neurodegenerative diseases using modern genomic tools, focusing on Lewy body dementia, a major research area in her lab. She will showcase how we have gained crucial insights into the genetic architecture of this understudied form of dementia by applying genome sequencing and transcriptomic analyses. By integrating multi-omic data and employing cutting-edge analytical methodologies within a systems biology framework, Dr. Scholz's research team has been able to identify risk genes and understand their functional consequences.

The central theme of the Scholz lab’s work on neurodegenerative diseases is to pinpoint molecular information that is particularly relevant for translational applications. This includes highlighting critical pathways commonly affected across the neurodegenerative disease spectrum, identifying opportunities for drug repurposing, and delineating targets for therapeutic development. Her research team's ultimate goal is to translate genomic advances from the lab into clinical practice and trials, thereby improving outcomes for patients with neurodegenerative diseases.