Dr. Jorge Ghiso

Biography

Jorge Ghiso is a Research Professor in the Department of Pathology at New York University. He has a long-standing interest in research focusing on the genetic and biochemical basis of Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as molecular, cellular, and translational neuroscience. His laboratory specializes in studying the molecular bases of disorders related to protein folding, particularly systematic cerebral amyloidosis of both sporadic and hereditary origin. With years of expertise in protein chemistry and peptide sequencing, he has developed numerous analytical strategies to dissect the biochemical and biophysical characteristics of amyloid deposits in human tissue specimens and animal models. His early work included the biochemical identification of diverse amyloid subunits related to systemic cerebral amyloidosis, including the complete primary structure of cystatin C Q68 Icelandic variant. He also discovered a genetic mutation in an amyloid subunit linked to cerebral hemorrhage. Recently, his lab has concentrated on Aβ cerebrovascular amyloidosis in the context of Alzheimer’s disease, successfully creating Aβ amyloid fibrils in vitro and revealing the existence of a soluble circulating form of Aβ that is transported in blood by HDL particles enriched with apolipoprotein J (clusterin). Furthermore, his research has pursued the role of the blood-brain barrier in modulating the uptake and clearance of Aβ.

Research Interests