John Koren, PhD

My research attempts to accomplish two goals: 1) Developing novel therapeutics to implement or improve the way we treat degenerative and terminal disorders; and 2) Forward our understanding of how disease begins and how it can be prevented. To these ends, my work focuses on several disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, affective disorders (such as anxiety and PTSD), glaucoma, and cancer, and then leveraging these data to develop new therapeutic strategies. My education includes bachelor’s degrees in both biochemistry and microbiology, a master’s degree in pharmacology, and a doctorate in neuroscience. My post-doctoral training was conducted at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center where I was awarded an NIH F32 fellowship for a project on profiling tumors for distinct targeted anti-cancer therapeutic combination strategies; a project I maintain to this day. I have two primary areas of scientific expertise: the biology and disease-association of a group of proteins collectively termed “molecular chaperones” and the role of the microtubule associated protein tau in a series of neurodegenerative disorders termed tauopathies (an umbrella term which includes Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, FTD, PSP, and others).