ISSN: 2689-8993
Associate Professor
Department of Neurology
Duke University School of Medicine
North Carolina
United States of America
Dr. Chiba-Falek is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at Duke University School of Medicine and a faculty in the Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC). She is also a faculty member in the Duke's Center for Genomic and Computational Biology (GCB), and a faculty in the Division of Human Genetics. Dr. Chiba-Falek received her PhD in Genetics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and post-doctoral training in Neurogenetics at the National Human Genome Research Institute. She joined the faculty at Duke University in 2007. Her research focuses on the genetic factors and molecular mechanisms underlying age-related neurodegenarative diseases, in particular cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, and Lewy body spectrum disorders. Her lab's overarching goal is to identify the precise causal and functional genetic variants underlying GWAS discoveries, and understand their molecular mechanisms of action and the biological pathways through which they exert their pathogenic effects. To this end her lab has developed innovative in silico, in vitro and in vivo approaches to study noncoding variants, specifically structural variants, and their impact on the regulation of gene expression and splicing in the context of neurodegenerative phenotypes. Her research program is translational to inform clinical studies, and for future development of new genetic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Dr. Chiba-Falek is a recognized expert in molecular and human genetics, functional genomics, neuroscience and molecular biology.
